Comparative Study of Cognitive Function Between Treatment-Resistant Depressive Patients and First-Episode Depressive Patients

• Published in: Neuropsychiatric disease and treatment Vol. 15; pp. 3411 - 3417
• Main Authors: Rao, Dongping, Xu, Guiyun, Lu, Zenghong, Liang, Huiwei, Lin, Kanguang, Tang, Muni
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: New Zealand Dove Medical Press Limited 01.12.2019; Taylor & Francis Ltd; Dove; Dove Medical Press
• Subjects: Alcohol; Anxiety; Between-subjects design; Bipolar disorder; Brain damage; Brain research; Care and treatment; Cognitive ability; Cognitive disorders; cognitive dysfunction; Comparative analysis; Comparative literature; Comparative studies; Depression (Mood disorder); Disabilities; Drug abuse; Executive function; first-episode depression; Independent sample; Intelligence; Medical research; Mental depression; Mental disorders; Original Research; Psychosis; Studies; Treatment resistance; treatment-resistant depression; Vortioxetine; China; Wisconsin; treatment-resistant depression; cognitive dysfunction; first-episode depression
• DOI: 10.2147/NDT.S226405
• ISSN: 1178-2021; 1176-6328

Despite reports of cognitive dysfunction during the acute phase of depression, there is a lack of studies in patients with treatment-resistant depression (TRD). The aim of this study was to investigate the cognitive function profile of TRD and compare cognitive dysfunction between subjects with TRD and first-episode depression. The study included 31 patients with TRD and 53 with first-episode depression. Cognitive function was assessed by a series of neuropsychological tools such as the verbal fluency test, Modified Wisconsin Card Sorting Test (M-WCST), Tower of Hanoi test, Chinese-revision of the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale (WAIS-RC), and Trail Making Test A and B. There were no significant demographic differences between the TRD, first-episode depression, and normal control groups (gender, age, years of education). The full-scale, verbal, and performance intelligence quotients measured with the WAIS-RC were also not significantly different (p>0.05). The normal group scores were all significantly better than TRD and first-episode depression, and the TRD group performed significantly worse than subjects with first-episode depression on Trail Making Test B, two WCST subscales, and the profile score of the Tower of Hanoi test (all p<0.05). Patients with depression exhibited global impairments in cognitive function, and these were more common in TRD. Poor executive function may play an important role in TRD.