Evidence map›Paper›PMID 27714573›Full record

SynthesisNeuropsychology review2016

Subjective Cognitive Complaints and Objective Cognitive Function in Aging: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Recent Cross-Sectional Findings.

Bridget Burmester, Janet Leathem, Paul Merrick

Abstract readMeta-AnalysisSystematic Review
PubMed Publisher
In one paragraph

Synthesis in Neuropsychology review, 2016. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 154 papers, 5 of them syntheses that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
154citing papers in PubMed, 5 pooled it
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

154 citing papers in PubMed, 5 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.

  1. Self- and informant-reported cognitive concerns associated with primary brain tumour: systematic review.Supportive care in cancer : official journal of the Multinational Association of Supportive Care in Cancer · 2025
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  6. Perceived Control, Cognitive Training, and Incident Alzheimer's Disease and Related Dementias in the ACTIVE Study.The journals of gerontology. Series B, Psychological sciences and social sciences · 2025
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  9. Early life predictors of subjective cognitive function in older age: emerging longitudinal associations over 6 decades.The journals of gerontology. Series B, Psychological sciences and social sciences · 2026
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94 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.

4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

3 authors.

Bridget BurmesterSchool of Psychology, Massey University, PO Box 756, Wellington, 6140, New Zealand. bridget.burmester.2@uni.massey.ac.nz.ORCID 0000-0003-4078-7963
Janet LeathemSchool of Psychology, Massey University, PO Box 756, Wellington, 6140, New Zealand.
Paul MerrickSchool of Psychology, Massey University, Private Bag 102 904, Auckland, 0745, New Zealand.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Research investigating how subjective cognitive complaints (SCCs) might reliably indicate impairments in objective cognitive functioning has produced highly varied findings, and despite attempts to synthesise this literature (e.g., Jonker et al. International Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry, 15, 983-991, 2000; Reid and MacLullich Dementia and Geriatric Cognitive Disorders, 22(5-6), 471-485, 2006; Crumley et al. Psychology and Aging, 29(2), 250-263, 2014), recent work continues to offer little resolution. This review provides both quantitative and qualitative synthesis of research conducted since the last comprehensive review in 2006, with the aim of identifying reasons for these discrepancies that might provide fruitful avenues for future exploration. Meta-analysis found a small but significant association between SCCs and objective cognitive function, although it was limited by large heterogeneity between studies and evidence of potential publication bias. Often, assessments of SCCs and objective cognitive function were brief or not formally validated. However, studies that employed more comprehensive SCC measures tended to find that SCCs were associated independently with both objective cognitive function and depressive symptoms. Further explicit investigation of how assessment measures relate to reports of SCCs, and the validity of the proposed 'compensation theory' of SCC aetiology, is recommended.

Indexed as

AgingCognition DisordersHumansMemory DisordersRecognition, PsychologyAgingCognitive impairmentMemory impairmentSubjective cognitive complaintsSubjective memory complaints

Identifiers

PMID27714573

What OpenQuestion holds

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Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.