Cleveland Clinic Lou Ruvo Center for Brain Health, Las Vegas, NV, USA.
School of Allied Health Sciences, University of Nevada, Las Vegas, Las Vegas, NV, USA.
J Geriatr Psychiatry Neurol. 2020 May;33(3):124-134. doi: 10.1177/0891988719868311. Epub 2019 Aug 11.
This study examined the neuropsychological correlates and impact on caregiver distress of reduced awareness of mood symptoms in patients with suspected neurodegenerative disease.
Records from a clinical sample of older adults were examined (N = 940).
More than one-third of patient and caregiver ratings of mood symptoms did not agree (comparing patient and caregiver self-report measures); 27.9% of patients were unaware of depression (UoD) and 16.6% of patients were unaware of anxiety (UoA). The UoD group exhibited poorer verbal memory and executive abilities and the UoA group exhibited poorer verbal memory than those with preserved awareness. Unawareness was not associated with caregiver distress.
These findings highlight the importance of capturing informant report in clinical practice with older adults suspected of cognitive impairment. Unawareness of mood symptoms was related to memory dysfunction and-to a lesser extent-to executive abilities and may have implications for addressing patient and caregiver needs for disorders affecting these cognitive systems.
本研究探讨了疑似神经退行性疾病患者情绪症状意识降低的神经心理学相关性及其对照顾者困扰的影响。
对临床老年患者样本的记录进行了检查（N=940）。
超过三分之一的患者和照顾者对情绪症状的评分不一致（比较患者和照顾者的自我报告测量）；27.9%的患者抑郁不自知（UoD），16.6%的患者焦虑不自知（UoA）。UoD 组表现出较差的语言记忆和执行能力，而 UoA 组表现出较差的语言记忆能力。不自知与照顾者困扰无关。
这些发现强调了在临床实践中，对认知障碍的老年患者进行知情者报告的重要性。情绪症状不自知与记忆功能障碍有关，在较小程度上与执行能力有关，可能对解决影响这些认知系统的疾病的患者和照顾者的需求具有重要意义。
