Cognitive Functions of Patients with Post Stroke Depression: Comparative Study on Executive Functions, Processing Speed, and Episodic Memory

Background: Post-stroke cognitive impairment (PCI) and depression (PSD) are among the most common sequelae of cerebrovascular accidents (CVA). The current study aimed to investigate the cognitive impairment of CVA and PSD patients in comparison with healthy controls (HC).Methods: A total of 60 volun...

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Main Authors: Behnam Ghabel Damirchi, Shima Shakiba, Mohammad Sayadnasiri, Ruhollah Hosseini
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Iran University of Medical Sciences 2023-07-01
Series:Neurology Letters
Subjects:
Online Access:https://www.neurologyletters.com/article_177560_b8279cdd7a787b3ae2f96a9add3620d9.pdf
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author Behnam Ghabel Damirchi
Shima Shakiba
Mohammad Sayadnasiri
Ruhollah Hosseini
author_facet Behnam Ghabel Damirchi
Shima Shakiba
Mohammad Sayadnasiri
Ruhollah Hosseini
author_sort Behnam Ghabel Damirchi
collection DOAJ
description Background: Post-stroke cognitive impairment (PCI) and depression (PSD) are among the most common sequelae of cerebrovascular accidents (CVA). The current study aimed to investigate the cognitive impairment of CVA and PSD patients in comparison with healthy controls (HC).Methods: A total of 60 volunteers (mean age, 62.98 [SD=3.98], 48.3% male) were recruited, with 20 participants in each group. Participants completed several standardized assessments, including the Hamilton Depression Rating Scale, Mini-Mental State Examination, Abbreviated Mental Test, Patient Health Questionnaire-9, and Depression in old Age Scale. The neuropsychological part of the evaluation was designed to investigate executive functions, processing speed, and episodic memory.Results: Analysis of variance revealed that the performance of all three study groups did not differ in easy tasks of spatial planning, working memory, and episodic memory. However, the PSD group performed medium difficulty tasks worse than the CVA patients and HC group. The HC group, on the other hand, exhibited better performance on complex tasks of these cognitive domains compared to other groups. Moreover, the complex tasks of spatial planning and medium difficulty tasks of working and episodic memory were able to distinguish between CVA and PSD groups. Additionally, the processing speed was found to be superior in HC group than both CVA and PSD groups (p<0.05).Conclusions: The findings emphasize the importance of early identification and cognitive enhancement of CVA and PSD survivors. Innovative cognitive rehabilitation and psychological interventions targeting these populations are essential to advance long-term patient-centered outcomes in the management of CVA services.
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spelling doaj.art-115d2bd86a16456a9c04a5fa9400dba32023-11-12T09:10:42ZengIran University of Medical SciencesNeurology Letters2821-17232023-07-0122879610.61186/nl.2.2.87177560Cognitive Functions of Patients with Post Stroke Depression: Comparative Study on Executive Functions, Processing Speed, and Episodic MemoryBehnam Ghabel Damirchi0Shima Shakiba1Mohammad Sayadnasiri2Ruhollah Hosseini3Faculty of Behavioral Sciences and Mental Health, Iran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, IranDepartment of Clinical Sciences, School of Rehabilitation Sciences, University of Social Welfare and Rehabilitation Sciences, Tehran, IranDepartment of Clinical Sciences, School of Rehabilitation Sciences, University of Social Welfare and Rehabilitation Sciences, Tehran, IranDepartment of Psychology, Faculty of Educational Sciences and Psychology, Ferdowsi University of Mashhad, Mashhad, IranBackground: Post-stroke cognitive impairment (PCI) and depression (PSD) are among the most common sequelae of cerebrovascular accidents (CVA). The current study aimed to investigate the cognitive impairment of CVA and PSD patients in comparison with healthy controls (HC).Methods: A total of 60 volunteers (mean age, 62.98 [SD=3.98], 48.3% male) were recruited, with 20 participants in each group. Participants completed several standardized assessments, including the Hamilton Depression Rating Scale, Mini-Mental State Examination, Abbreviated Mental Test, Patient Health Questionnaire-9, and Depression in old Age Scale. The neuropsychological part of the evaluation was designed to investigate executive functions, processing speed, and episodic memory.Results: Analysis of variance revealed that the performance of all three study groups did not differ in easy tasks of spatial planning, working memory, and episodic memory. However, the PSD group performed medium difficulty tasks worse than the CVA patients and HC group. The HC group, on the other hand, exhibited better performance on complex tasks of these cognitive domains compared to other groups. Moreover, the complex tasks of spatial planning and medium difficulty tasks of working and episodic memory were able to distinguish between CVA and PSD groups. Additionally, the processing speed was found to be superior in HC group than both CVA and PSD groups (p<0.05).Conclusions: The findings emphasize the importance of early identification and cognitive enhancement of CVA and PSD survivors. Innovative cognitive rehabilitation and psychological interventions targeting these populations are essential to advance long-term patient-centered outcomes in the management of CVA services.https://www.neurologyletters.com/article_177560_b8279cdd7a787b3ae2f96a9add3620d9.pdfcognitive functionsepisodic memoryexecutive functionspost stroke depressionprocessing speedworking memory
spellingShingle Behnam Ghabel Damirchi
Shima Shakiba
Mohammad Sayadnasiri
Ruhollah Hosseini
Cognitive Functions of Patients with Post Stroke Depression: Comparative Study on Executive Functions, Processing Speed, and Episodic Memory
Neurology Letters
cognitive functions
episodic memory
executive functions
post stroke depression
processing speed
working memory
title Cognitive Functions of Patients with Post Stroke Depression: Comparative Study on Executive Functions, Processing Speed, and Episodic Memory
title_full Cognitive Functions of Patients with Post Stroke Depression: Comparative Study on Executive Functions, Processing Speed, and Episodic Memory
title_fullStr Cognitive Functions of Patients with Post Stroke Depression: Comparative Study on Executive Functions, Processing Speed, and Episodic Memory
title_full_unstemmed Cognitive Functions of Patients with Post Stroke Depression: Comparative Study on Executive Functions, Processing Speed, and Episodic Memory
title_short Cognitive Functions of Patients with Post Stroke Depression: Comparative Study on Executive Functions, Processing Speed, and Episodic Memory
title_sort cognitive functions of patients with post stroke depression comparative study on executive functions processing speed and episodic memory
topic cognitive functions
episodic memory
executive functions
post stroke depression
processing speed
working memory
url https://www.neurologyletters.com/article_177560_b8279cdd7a787b3ae2f96a9add3620d9.pdf
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