Influence of a double blind pharmacological trial on two domains of well-being in subjects with age associated memory impairment

This random double-blind trial compares psychological well-being and perceived quality of life in 60 subjects (18 M, 42 F), mean age 61 years, with age-associated memory impairment (AAMI), who were administered a standardised ginseng-containing vitamin complex or placebo for 9 months. We evaluated psychological well-being, in terms of affective status and memory functioning using the Symptom Rating Test [SRT] (depression, anxiety, somatisation, inadequacy) and Randt Memory Test [RMT] (memory index [MI]), respectively, and the quality of life, using the Life Satisfaction in the Elderly Scale [LSES]. At final evaluation, SRT did not differ in the drug and placebo groups, whereas MI and LSES were significantly higher in the drug-treated group. Moreover, the negative correlation between the affective (SRT) and cognitive (MI) component of psychological well-being waned in the drug-treated but not placebo group. In the drug-treated group, a positive correlation emerged between the cognitive index and social contacts, mood and self-concept factors of the LSES. In both groups, the initial negative correlations between quality of life (LSES) and affection (SRT) persisted at the end of the study. Drug-treated AAMI subjects differ from controls in part by improved scores on objective cognitive tests but even more so by modifications of the correlations among indexes of psychological well-being and quality of life.