Dombrovski Alexandre Y, Butters Meryl A, Reynolds Charles F, Houck Patricia R, Clark Luke, Mazumdar Sati, Szanto Katalin
Department of Psychiatry, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA, USA.
Am J Geriatr Psychiatry. 2008 Feb;16(2):109-15. doi: 10.1097/JGP.0b013e3180f6338d.
Deficits in executive functions may play an important role in late-life suicide; however the association is understudied. This study examined cognitive function in general and executive functioning specifically in depressed elderly with and without suicidal ideation and attempts.
Case-control study.
University-affiliated psychiatric hospital.
We compared 32 suicidal depressed participants aged 60 and older with 32 non-suicidal depressed participants equated for age, education, and gender.
We assessed global cognitive function and executive function with the Dementia Rating Scale (DRS) and the Executive Interview (EXIT25), respectively.
Suicidal and non-suicidal depressed groups were comparable in terms of severity of depression and burden of physical illness. Suicidal participants performed worse on the EXIT25, and on the DRS total scale, as well as on Memory and Attention subscales. The differences were not explained by the presence of dementia, substance use, medication exposure, or brain injury from suicide attempts.
Poor performance on tests of executive function, attention, and memory is associated with suicidal behavior in late-life depression.
执行功能缺陷可能在老年自杀中起重要作用；然而，这种关联尚未得到充分研究。本研究考察了有自杀意念和自杀未遂的老年抑郁症患者以及无此类情况的老年抑郁症患者的一般认知功能，特别是执行功能。
病例对照研究。
大学附属精神病医院。
我们将32名60岁及以上有自杀行为的抑郁症患者与32名年龄、教育程度和性别相匹配的无自杀行为的抑郁症患者进行了比较。
我们分别用痴呆评定量表（DRS）和执行功能访谈（EXIT25）评估整体认知功能和执行功能。
有自杀行为和无自杀行为的抑郁症患者在抑郁严重程度和身体疾病负担方面相当。有自杀行为的参与者在EXIT25、DRS总量表以及记忆和注意力子量表上的表现更差。这些差异不能用痴呆症、物质使用、药物暴露或自杀未遂导致的脑损伤来解释。
执行功能、注意力和记忆测试表现不佳与老年抑郁症患者的自杀行为有关。
