EMPIRICAL-EVALUATION OF THE COGNITIVE DIFFICULTIES SCALE FOR ASSESSMENT OF MEMORY COMPLAINTS IN GENERAL-PRACTICE - A STUDY OF 1628 COGNITIVELY NORMAL SUBJECTS AGED 45-75 YEARS

The Cognitive Difficulties Scale (CDS, McNair and Kahn, 1984) was used to assess memory complaints in 1648 subjects devoid of severe medical or psychiatric disorder. The subjects, aged 45-75 years, were recruited when visiting their general practitioner. The CDS was well accepted and showed a good and stable factorial structure. A weak correlation was found between CDS score and the results of a short neuropsychological battery. A high CDS score was associated with advancing age, low educational level, and psychological motives for visiting. A reduced 26-item version is proposed to shorten the time required to fill in the scale.