Objective To discuss the correlation between subjective memory complaint（SMC）

objective cognitive impairment

depression and Chinese medical syndrome of liver depression in the elderly.Methods Totally 102 participants with SMC and 20 normal cognitive functional controls without SMC were recruited.The 102SMC patients were divided into SMC with normal cognition（52cases）and SMC with decreased cognition（50cases）.Participants were asked to rate the degree of their perceived cognitive decline by Subjective Memory Complaint Visual Rating Scale（SMC-VAS）.The objective cognitive function was examined by using Mini-Mental State Examination（MMSE）and Montreal Cognitive Assessment（MoCA）.Depression was assessed by using Hamilton Depression Rating Scale（HAMD-17）and Chinese medical syndrome of liver depression was also investigated.Results The HAMD-17 scores in SMC cognitively normal group were significantly higher than those in SMC cognitive decline group and the control group（P<0.05

P<0.01）.The average scores of liver depression syndrome in SMC cognitively normal group were significantly higher than those in SMC cognitive decline group（P<0.05）.In SMC cognitively normal group

the scores of SMC-VAS had no significant association with MoCA scores

but were positively correlated with the HAMD-17 scores（P<0.01）and the scores of liver depression syndrome（P<0.05）.In SMC cognitively decline group

the scores of SMC-VAS were negatively correlated with MoCA scores（P<0.05）and were positively correlated with the HAMD-17 scores（P<0.01）and the scores of liver depression syndrome（P<0.01）.Conclusion A considerable part of SMC individuals have no objective cognitive impairment.SMC with or without cognitive impairment is associated with depression and Chinese medical syndrome of liver depression.