Determining the association of medical co-morbidity with subjective and objective cognitive performance in an inner city memory disorders clinic: a retrospective chart review

Background: Medical co-morbidity may be associated with impaired cognitive function based on prior studies. However, no studies to date have determined to what extent this association is linked to medical illness or other factors that may be linked to medical illness (such as education, income levels, depression or subjective memory loss). The present study examined how medical co-morbidity, socioeconomic status (defined as residential SES), education and depression are associated with subjective and objective memory function in a sample of patients recruited from a university affiliated Memory Disorders Clinic located in a large Canadian inner city teaching hospital. Methods: Data was collected from 85 consecutive referrals to an Inner City Memory Disorders Clinic including socio-demographic characteristics, cognitive status and medical co-morbidity. Descriptive and correlational analyses were conducted. Results: Impaired objective cognitive function correlated significantly with increased medical co-morbidity and partially with education but not with residential SES or depression. Elevated memory complaints correlated significantly with depression, inversely with residential SES and not at all with medical co-morbidity or education. Conclusions: Increased medical co-morbidity is significantly associated with impaired cognitive performance but not with subjective memory complaints in an Inner City Memory Clinic sample.