through the menopause (Greendale et al. 2009 ; Weber et al. 2013 ; Epperson et al.
2013 ). This decline is evident after controlling for age and depression and appears
to resolve in the postmenopausal period. For that reason, it is particularly interesting
to study the relationship between memory complaints and objective memory per-
formance in this group. Studies of midlife womenfind a consistent relationship
between brief measures of SMC and poorer verbal memory performance
(Schaafsma et al. 2010 ; Drogos et al. 2013 ). An illustrative study by Schaafsma
et al. 2010 (n= 120; age 45–60 years) measured SMC with affirmative responses to
the question“Do you have problems with your memory?” and also measured
subjective attention complaints with the item,“Do you have problems with atten-
tion and concentration?” Although only these two questions were included, the
response scale was more extensive than that used in the studies above in that
complaints were assessed for both severity and interference with daily function on
scales from“none”to“severe.”Cognition was assessed with sensitive tests of
memory and reaction time; thus, subtle differences in performance could be
detected. Results revealed that SMC were associated with worse scores on tests of
verbal memory and reaction time, even after controlling for depression, anxiety, and
stress ratings. Notably, self-reported measures of attention also correlated with
performance on the verbal memory test. Similarly, in another study of midlife
women with moderate-to-severe hotflashes (n= 60; age 48–62 years), a single
rating of current memory performance—“How would you rate your memory in
terms of the kinds of problems that you have?”—was significantly associated with
verbal memory, after controlling for affective ratings (Drogos et al. 2013 ) As shown
in Fig.13.1, poorer performance on the verbal memory task (California Verbal
Learning Test composite) is associated with more severe SMC. Overall then, these
studies in midlife women appear to validate women’s memory complaints against
validated measures of verbal memory.
Fig. 13.1 Poorer
performance on the verbal
memory task (CVLT
composite) is associated with
more severe subjective
memory complaints in midlife
women with
moderate-to-severe hot
flashes. Reproduced with the
permission from Drogos et al.
( 2013 ).N= 68.CVLT
California verbal learning test,
Model adjusted for negative
affect
13 Subjective Memory Complaints and Objective Memory Performance 281