Neuropsychological performance in children and adolescents with obsessive-compulsive disorder and influence of clinical variables.
BACKGROUND
Several studies have found impairment in visual memory and visual organization in adults with obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), but little is known about the neuropsychological profile of children and adolescents with this disorder. The influence of clinical variables such as age, severity of obsessive-compulsive symptomatology, depressive symptomatology, and pharmacological treatment on cognitive performance in these patients has not been thoroughly studied.


METHODS
A neuropsychological battery designed for this study was administered to 35 patients with DSM-IV-TR diagnosis of OCD without psychiatric comorbidity aged between 7 and 18 years and 35 gender- and age-matched healthy subjects.


RESULTS
Children and adolescents with OCD performed significantly worse on verbal and visual memory and velocity. When depressive symptomatology was controlled, impairment in visual memory, visual organization, and velocity again was found, but impairment in verbal memory was not. Neuropsychological impairment was not related to age, obsessive-compulsive severity, and pharmacological treatment.


CONCLUSIONS
Children and adolescents with OCD without psychiatric comorbidity with acute illness show impairment in visual memory, visual organization, and velocity, similar to adults. The influence of depressive symptomatology is important in cognitive performance. No relation was found between neuropsychology and age, severity of obsessive-compulsive symptomatology, or pharmacological treatment in this study.
Andrés
Susana
S
Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Psychology, Hospital Clinic of Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain. s.andres@clinic.ub.es
Boget
Teresa
T
Lázaro
Luisa
L
Penadés
Rafael
R
Morer
Astrid
A
Salamero
Manel
M
Castro-Fornieles
Josefina
J
D000293:Adolescent; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D002648:Child; D003072:Cognition Disorders / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000209:etiology; D003863:Depression / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000209:etiology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008569:Memory Disorders / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000209:etiology; D015999:Multivariate Analysis; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests; D009771:Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000503:physiopathology* / Q000523:psychology*; D011569:Psychiatric Status Rating Scales; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D014705:Verbal Behavior / Q000502:physiology; D014796:Visual Perception / Q000502:physiology