title: Mood and cognition after electrical injury: a follow-up study.
abstract: Individuals who have experienced an electrical injury have been reported to demonstrate both acute and delayed cognitive and psychiatric symptoms. The present study assessed 20 electrically injured patients who underwent neuropsychological evaluations twice following their injury. Time since injury, time between assessments, and longitudinal mood changes were evaluated for their potential impact on simple and complex attention outcomes. As an overall group, there was little change over time from low average to average baseline attention/concentration performance. However, results indicated that longitudinal increases in depressive symptoms were consistently associated with poorer performance on a measure of simple and complex attention. Loss of consciousness, litigation status, baseline injury status (acute vs. post-acute), and time between evaluations were not significant predictors of changes in cognitive performance. Implications for the treatment of comorbid psychiatric issues and for future research on victims of electrical trauma are discussed.
authors.affiliation: College of Health and Human Services, Governors State University, University Park, IL, USA.
authors.forename: Darrin M
authors.initials: DM
authors.lastname: Aase
authors.forename: Joseph W
authors.initials: JW
authors.lastname: Fink
authors.forename: Raphael C
authors.initials: RC
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.forename: Kathleen M
authors.initials: KM
authors.lastname: Kelley
authors.forename: Neil H
authors.initials: NH
authors.lastname: Pliskin
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D003072:Cognition Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000209:etiology*; D004556:Electric Injuries / Q000150:complications* / Q000523:psychology; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008568:Memory / Q000502:physiology; D008875:Middle Aged; D019964:Mood Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000209:etiology*; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests; D011569:Psychiatric Status Rating Scales; D013997:Time Factors; D014706:Verbal Learning / Q000502:physiology; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: Attention; Depression; Electrical shock; Electrical trauma; Psychiatric; Psychopathology