title: Neurocognitive impairments and quality of life in unemployed patients with remitted major depressive disorder.
abstract: Quality of life (QOL) has been reported to be impaired in patients with major depressive disorder (MDD), even after remission according to symptom rating scales. Although a relationship between QOL and neurocognitive dysfunction has been reported during depressive episodes, little is known about this relationship in remitted MDD patients. The aim of the present study was to investigate the relationship between QOL and neurocognitive dysfunction in patients with remitted MDD while controlling for confounding factors. Forty-three remitted MDD patients were assessed with neuropsychological tests and QOL, which was measured by a short-form 36-item health survey. The neurocognitive performances of the patients were compared with those of 43 healthy controls. We next evaluated the relationships between neurocognitive impairments, clinical factors, and QOL. Remitted MDD patients had poorer neurocognitive performances than healthy controls for psychomotor speed, attention, and verbal memory. Residual depressive symptoms were strongly associated with QOL. Delayed verbal recall was associated with general health perceptions, which are part of the QOL assessment, even after the effects of the residual depressive symptoms were considered. The results may indicate that clinicians should try to detect neurocognitive dysfunctions that may interfere with QOL using neurocognitive assessments in their daily practice.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, Hokkaido University Graduate School of Medicine, North 15 West 7, Kita-ku, Sapporo, Hokkaido, 060-8638, Japan. Electronic address: yshimizu-hok@umin.ac.jp.
authors.forename: Yusuke
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Shimizu
authors.forename: Nobuki
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Kitagawa
authors.forename: Nobuyuki
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Mitsui
authors.forename: Yutaka
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Fujii
authors.forename: Atsuhito
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Toyomaki
authors.forename: Naoki
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Hashimoto
authors.forename: Yuki
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Kako
authors.forename: Teruaki
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Tanaka
authors.forename: Satoshi
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Asakura
authors.forename: Ichiro
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Kusumi
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001288:Attention; D003072:Cognition Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000523:psychology*; D003865:Major Depressive Disorder / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000523:psychology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008568:Memory; D011939:Mental Recall; D008875:Middle Aged; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D011569:Psychiatric Status Rating Scales; D011788:Quality of Life
keywords: Cognitive dysfunction; Depression; Psychosocial function; Remission; Verbal memory