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Objective Neuropsychologists often supplement performance-based measures of cognition with self-report questionnaires. One questionnaire—the Measurement of Everyday Cognition (ECog)—has shown promise in differentiating between impaired and non-impaired populations; however, little research has been done specifically on the memory items from the shortened version: the ECog-12. The purpose of this study was to examine the extent to which the Ecog-12 Memory subscale can predict actual cognitive function as measured by a performance-based screening test. Method Older adults (ages 55–90; n = 74) completed the ECog-12 and were administered the Mini-Mental Status Exam—2nd Edition (MMSE-2), with scores dichotomized into normal function and impaired function. Results Binary logistic regression found that the ECog-12 Memory subscale items explained between 57% and 87% of variance in normal/impaired MMSE-2 scores and accurately classified 79.7% of cases. Conclusion Brief self-report measures of everyday memory functioning are sensitive to cognitive decline among older adults.

The political debate preceding passage of the Affordable Care Act included controversy over a bill that some claimed would establish a “death panel” to judge if older adults were worthy of receiving medical care. This claim was false, as the bill would instead incentivize physicians to inform Medicare patients about advanced directives: legal documentation of one’s end-of-life preferences. However, the death panel myth led to the removal of this bill from the Affordable Care Act, and a poll five years later found 41% of Americans still believed in the death panel myth. We investigated the effects believing in this myth had on older adults, hypothesizing that those who believed in the myth would have lower advance directive completion rates and more negative attitudes towards advanced directives. Community-dwelling older adults aged 65 to 102 years (N = 182) in a large city in the southern United States completed an interview survey. No relationship was found between belief in the death panel myth and advanced directive completion; however, older adults who believed in the myth had lower perceived need for advanced directives than those who did not. Surprisingly, 47.1% of older adults who believed in the myth also supported incentivizing doctors to inform patients about advanced directives, suggesting that many older adults who believe in the myth do not know that the controversial bill was about advanced directives. Results suggest that the death panel myth may have long-lasting effects, specifically persistent distrust about policies promoting advance directives.