B – 98 The Relationship Between Perceived Health Status, Memory Complaints, and Memory

Abstract Objective Many healthcare professionals use brief screeners to assess physical/cognitive health. Previous research has revealed relationships between overall health and memory. However, limited research exists on how self-reported health status relates to more comprehensive neuropsychological test performance in memory. We aimed to assess the relationship between perceived health status (PHS), perceived memory progression, and performance-based memory in healthy adults. Method Participants (N = 182; 65.4% female; Aged 18-89, M = 52.1) were asked to report their PHS on a scale from 1 (excellent) to 4 (fair/poor), whether their memory is getting worse (0 = No, 1 = Yes). Participants also underwent a neuropsychological test battery that consisted of the California Verbal Learning Test-II (CVLT; Short and Long Delay [SD/LD] Free Recall z-score) and Weschler Memory Scale-IV (WMS; Visual Reproduction 1 and 2 [VR1/2). Results A multivariate general linear model indicated significant differences in memory performance between PHS responses F(4,471) = 2.53, p = .003, η2 = .54), but not subjective memory worsening F(4,178) = 1.99, p = .093, η2 = .43). Across PHS responses, significant differences were found within the CVLT-SD (η2 = .091, p < .001), CVLT-LD (η2 = .092, p < .001), WMS-VR1 (η2 = .054, p = .017), and WMS-VR2 (η2 = .044, p = .044). Across subjective memory, only the WMS-VR2 was significant (η2 = .029, p = .022). Conclusion These results suggest that PHS is a higher indicator of performance-based memory measures than perceived memory progression. Further research should explore the relationship between similar health screeners and other neurocognitive domains.