Relationship between the functional competence of episodic memory and the factors associated with functional independence of healthy elderly

OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to describe the relationship between the functional competence of episodic memory and its associations with functional independence of healthy elderly in the city of Juiz de Fora, Minas Gerais state, Brazil. METHODS: It is a cross-sectional, descriptive and exploratory research in which 60 healthy elderly comprised the final sample. To evaluate the functional capacity, the Index of Independence of Daily Living and the Lawton Instrumental Activities of Daily Living Scale were used. The episodic memory was assessed by a test of West & Thorn, adapted and validated for the Brazilian population by Yassuda, Lasca e Neri in 2005. Statistical analysis were performed using the 5.0 version of the statistical software Sphinx Léxica and Eureka. RESULTS: Statistically significant association between education level and performance in episodic memory task was found, as well as between the latter and three items of assessment scale of instrumental activities of daily living, although inconclusive. CONCLUSIONS: It is believed that these results are due to the fact that there are so many differences between researches with respect to methodology and the choice of instruments that evaluates both episodic memory and the erderly's functional capacity. Furthermore, the hypothesis that in healthy aging there is a capacity to face gradual losses in episodic memory and compensate them using other strategies and resources, should receive attention in further research.