Impact of Depression, Fatigue, and Global Measure of Cortical Volume on Cognitive Impairment in Multiple Sclerosis. (11th March 2015)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Nunnari, Domenica; De Cola, Maria Cristina; D'Aleo, Giangaetano; Rifici, Carmela; Russo, Margherita; Sessa, Edoardo; Bramanti, Placido; Marino, Silvia
• Other Names: Dwyer Michael G. Academic Editor.
• Is Part Of: BioMed research international. Volume 2015(2015)
• Publication Date: 2015-03-11
• Subjects: Medicine -- Periodicals; Biology -- Periodicals; Biotechnology -- Periodicals; Life sciences -- Periodicals; 610.5
• DOI: 10.1155/2015/519785
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 2314-6133

Abstract

Abstract : Objective . To investigate the influence of demographic and clinical variables, such as depression, fatigue, and quantitative MRI marker on cognitive performances in a sample of patients affected by multiple sclerosis (MS). Methods . 60 MS patients (52 relapsing remitting and 8 primary progressive) underwent neuropsychological assessments using Rao's Brief Repeatable Battery of Neuropsychological Tests (BRB-N), the Beck Depression Inventory-second edition (BDI-II), and the Fatigue Severity Scale (FSS). We performed magnetic resonance imaging to all subjects using a 3 T scanner and obtained tissue-specific volumes (normalized brain volume and cortical brain volume). We used Student's t -test to compare depressed and nondepressed MS patients. Finally, we performed a multivariate regression analysis in order to assess possible predictors of patients' cognitive outcome among demographic and clinical variables. Results . 27.12% of the sample (16/59) was cognitively impaired, especially in tasks requiring attention and information processing speed. From between group comparison, we find that depressed patients had worse performances on BRB-N score, greater disability and disease duration, and brain volume decrease. According to multiple regression analysis, the BDI-II score was a significant predictor for most of the neuropsychological tests. Conclusions . Our findings suggest that the presence of depressive symptoms is an important determinant of cognitive performance in MS patients.