Processing time and delayed recall
In a 6-year longitudinal study with 557 older people, Mol
et al. (2007) found that awareness of forgetfulness was
predictive of slower processing time and delayed recall of
information, but had no correlation to development of
cognitive impairment. Commissaris et al. (1996) conducted a
survey with 537 older adults in the Netherlands to determine
prevalence of forgetfulness. They found that 90% of
respondents were concerned about their own forgetfulness,
but that only 25% brought this concern to their general
practitioner (GP). In the same study, 430 older adults gave
their own reasons for perceived forgetfulness in order of most
common (see Table 1); the majority cited situations that
would place increased demands on their working memory
and/or limit their ability to focus.