Effects of brain injury and age on prospective memory self-rating and performance

The purposes of this study were (1) to assess internal consistency and test-retest reliability of the Prospective Memory Questionnaire (PMQ) developed by Hannon and associates; (2) to compare PMQ self-ratings of adults with brain injury versus younger and older noninjured adults; (3) to develop short-term and long-term tasks for measuring actual prospective memory performance; and (4) to study the relationship between scores on the PMQ and the prospective memory tasks. Internal consistency of the PMQ was .92 and test-retest reliability was .88. Groups differed significantly on only one PMQ subscale. Actual prospective memory performance was significantly worse for adults with brain injury and older adults than for younger adults on two of the three sets of summary measures. PMQ self-ratings were significantly but weakly correlated with short-term task performance, but not with long-term task performance. Implications of the findings for assessment and treatment of prospective memory impairment are discussed.