Measuring everyday memory in elderly people: a preliminary study

The effectiveness of a short test of everyday memory in discriminating memory ability of independently living and of partially dependent elderly people has been investigated. Results indicate that overall test performance is significantly different in the two groups but that not all individual items discriminate equally well. The test as a whole correlates well with a standard cognitive screening test but it also contains items for abilities not measured in the general test, notably visuo-spatial memory. In addition, it appears to provide a more sensitive measure of memory function when general cognitive decline is minimal.