Subjective cognitive complaints and mortality: does the type of complaint matter?

Middle-aged subjects report subjective cognitive complaints (SSCs) but whether these are meaningfully related to health remains unknown. We examined the association between SCCs, both amnestic and non-amnestic, and mortality in a middle-aged population after taking into account the role of depression. 15,510 participants (26.2% women), mean age 57.9 years in 2002, from the French GAZEL study provided data on 3 measures of SCCs: memory complaints, cognitive symptoms (forgetfulness, difficulties in recalling memories, retaining new information, mental calculation, in language, and orientation) and whether they sought medical advice for SCCs. All-cause mortality was assessed between 2002 and 2012. Over the follow-up 56.3% participants reported memory problems, 62.6% cognitive complaints, 22.3% sought medical advice and 651 died. All SCCs were strongly associated (odds ratio 2.08-6.35) with depression which was itself associated with greater mortality (HR = 1.77, 95% CI: 1.50, 2.09). In analyses adjusted for age, sex, education, marital status and depression difficulty in mental calculation (HR = 1.30, 95% CI: 1.08, 1.60) and seeking medical advice for cognitive symptoms (HR = 1.41, 95% CI: 1.18, 1.68) were significantly associated with mortality, while memory complaints did not carry increased risk (HR = 0.93, 95% CI: 0.79, 1.09). All SCCS were strongly associated with depression but not all carried excess risk of mortality.