Necessity of normative data on the Japanese version of the Wechsler Memory Scale-Revised Logical Memory subtest for old-old people

Aim: Episodic memory is vulnerable to deterioration in people suffering from Alzheimer's disease. Currently, the Logical Memory (LM) subtest of the Wechsler Memory Scale-Revised (WMS-R) is used internationally as an operational definition to identify people with mild cognitive impairment (MCI). However, the Japanese version of the LM has not been adequately normalized for old-old people. Therefore, norms of the LM for people aged 75 years and over are required, and the effects of sex, age and education on performance were evaluated. Methods: A total of 50 (27 female and 23 male) participants without a history of dementia and symptomatic stroke events recruited from the community and hospital populations were investigated using the Mini-Mental State Examination, the LM and some interference tasks. Results: The mean scores (standard deviations) of the sample were 15.5 (5.4) on LM-I and 9.9 (6.6) on LM-II. The distributions of the LM-I and -II scores satisfied the normality assumption. The LM-I and LM-II scores correlated with age and the LM-I score correlated with educational background. Conclusions: For the Japanese version of the LM, the means, standard deviations and distribution features of the old-old sample are presented. Although the normal sample was chosen to closely match the demographic profile of the Japanese population, the present sample might have had a higher educational background than the age-matched population, especially the males. Further study is required to standardize the Japanese version of the LM subtest for each 5-year interval for latter-stage elderly people. Geriatr Gerontol Int 2013; 13: 726-730.