[Qualitative study about prospective memory's difficulties in the elderly: nature of memory subjective complaint and...

Prospective memory is the ability to remember to execute an action at the appropriate time. Although it is essential in the daily activities and thus in the maintenance of people autonomy, some questions remain unanswered, and in particular its effects on age and its efficiency. This qualitative exploratory study aims to a better understanding of the extent and nature of the difficulties experienced by the elderly in terms of prospective memory in real life, and reminders used by them. Semi-directive and directive interviews were conducted with 14 people over 66 of age and assessed by manual content analyzes. The results show disturbances of prospective memory expressed by the elderly, which differ according to the type of task and seem to be fitting with the results found in natural environment. They also show that external memory aids are more often used by older people even if they are considered by them to be less effective than the interns one. Our results give some insight into the reminders, which are spontaneously used or not used by the elderly and allow to look ahead to new perspectives in terms of memory rehabilitation.