Reports of subjective cognitive complaints (SCCs) are common among the elderly and there has been increasing evidence of SCCs predating mild cognitive impairment and Alzheimer’s disease. However, there is a lack of agreement regarding the diagnostic and prognostic value of SCCs, possibly due to inconsistent operationalisation of such complaints (e.g., using a single question vs. a continuous, multi-item measure). This study investigated the associations between SCCs, as measured by the multi-domain Cognitive Change Index (CCI), and objective cognitive performance, measured globally and by individual domains, using a comprehensive neuropsychological test battery. It also examined whether the CCI was a better predictor of cognitive performance than a commonly used single question specific to memory. Results showed that SCCs were inversely correlated with global cognition, processing speed, and verbal memory. Also, the multi-domain CCI added little over and above a single question on memory in predicting objective global cognition, verbal memory and language, with the exception of non-verbal memory. Nevertheless, the CCI may be valuable for detecting SCCs in other cognitive domains in clinical groups such as MCI. Future work will investigate the validity of the CCI for assessing SCCs in clinical samples of MCI and mild dementia including an item-level analysis.