Cognitive impairment and mood disorder in the subacute phase of Ischemic Stroke

Abstract

Background: Ischemic strokes (IS) patients usually present cognitive deficits and psychiatric disorders. Studies describe this coexistence in the chronic phase, although alterations may relate with acute damage to emotion and cognition circuits Objectives: Assess cognitive and psychiatric symptoms during the subacute phase of IS. Design and setting: A prospective study, screening patients admitted in the Stroke Unit of Hospital Municipal Odilon Behrens, in Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais, Brazil. Methods: Adults with acute IS and healthy controls were submitted to neuropsychological tests between 30 and 60 days after the event. Incidental, immediate and working memory, learning, late recall, recognition, phonemic verbal fluency, attention and facial emotion recognition were evaluated. Results: Eighteen patients were evaluated in the subacute phase, and twenty-one participants composed the control group, showing no socioeconomic differences between them. There was significant difference in immediate memory (p <0,01), late recall (p<0,05) and recognition (p<0,03) tests from the Brief Cognitive Screening Battery, and in the depression subscale from Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (p <0,04). Although there was no significant difference in Facial Emotion Recognition Test (p=0,745), the expression of sadness positively correlated with levels of anxiety (rho=0,587, p<0,05) and depression (rho=0,598, p<0,01), while the expression of fear negatively correlated with depressive symptoms (rho=0,481, p<0,05). Conclusion: Cognitive deficits and psychiatric symptoms in the subacute phase of IS are probably associated with memory impairments. Furthermore, depression and anxiety symptoms may influence the emotion recognition.