Cognitive impairment in patients with recurrent major depression disorder

Abstract

Objective To explore the psychological process of cognitive impairment in patients with recurrent major depression disorder (MDD). Methods Patients with first-episode (n=30) and recurrent MDD (n=68) in the outpatient department of the First Affiliated Hospital of Zhengzhou University from September 2016 to December 2017 were collected and healthy controls(n=30) were collected at the same time.According to HAMD-24 score, the group with recurrent attacks was further divided into recurrent attacks-onset period (n=35) and recurrent attacks-remission period (n=33). All subjects were tested for cognitive function by MATRICS Consensus Cognitive Battery(MCCB). Results (1) In terms of cognitive function assessment, the scores of information processing speed (41.27±8.44, 37.00±11.68), working memory (40.53±10.33, 41.26±9.37), attention/alertness (40.50±7.25, 39.58±8.23), word learning (38.83±8.39, 38.84±9.57), visual memory(39.30±14.03, 37.57±10.42), reasoning and problem solving(37.80±9.55, 38.78±8.66), and social cognition (34.63± 9.66) in the first-episode group and the recurrent group were lower than those in the control group (information processing speed (48.23±7.63), working memory (50.57±7.84), attention/alertness (51.63±7.41), word learning (45.57±9.55), visual memory (50.57±8.42), reasoning and problem solving (50.03±9.87) and social cognition (47.90±19.01)) (F=12.818, 12.173, 26.166, 6.004, 15.085, 18.331, 10.218, P<0.05); (2) In working memory and social cognition, the difference was statistically significant in the first-episode group, repeated attacks-episodes(working memory: 37.89±9.15, social cognition: 28.48±8.35) and recurrent group-remission(working memory: 44.85±8.32, social cognition: 40.44±11.36, P=0.010, 0.001). Further comparisons revealed that the score of working memory in repeated attacks-episodes was lower than that in recurrent group-remission (P=0.003). the score of social cognition in the first-episode group was higher than that in the recurrent-attack period group (P=0.038). The score of social cognition in the recurrent group-remission was higher than that in recurrent-attack period group (P<0.01). Conclusion There is cognitive impairment in the first episode and the recurrence MDD. The impairment in the recurrent episode is more serious than that in the first episode of depression.The impairment of social cognitive in the recurrent attacks-episodes is more serious than that in the first-episode of depression. Key words: Major depression disorder; Recurrent; Cognitive function; Information processing