title: Correlation between cognition and symptomatic severity in patients with late-life somatoform disorders.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Various aging associated factors, such as functional decline, psychosocial problems, and cognitive dysfunction, are risk factors for somatoform disorders (SDs) in the elderly. The aim of the present study was to evaluate how cognition is correlated with the severity of late-life SDs from a neuropsychological viewpoint.
  
  
  METHODS
  Fifty-three patients over 60 years of age who had been diagnosed as having SDs were examined in this study. The severity of the somatic symptoms was assessed using the Hamilton Anxiety Rating Scales (HAMA). Cognitive functions were assessed using the Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE), the Frontal Assessment Battery (FAB), and the Japanese version of the Neurobehavioral Cognitive Examination (J-COGNISTAT).
  
  
  RESULTS
  The J-COGNISTAT subtest score for attention was below the cutoff point (8 points) but was not correlated with the severity of the somatic symptoms in the patients with late-life SDs. The severity of anxiety as assessed using the HAMA was significantly correlated with the calculation scores (P < 0.005) among the J-COGNISTAT subtests, the FAB total (P < 0.05), and the FAB subtest scores (similarities and motor series) (P < 0.01). Other factors, including the benzodiazepine dosage, antidepressant dosage, the duration of illness, and the onset age, were not significantly correlated with the symptomatic severities.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Patients with late-life SDs showed attention deficits, but no correlation was seen between the attention deficits and symptomatic severities. Attention deficits might be associated with the appearance of symptoms. Executive dysfunction and working memory might be associated with the severity of symptoms.
authors.affiliation: a Department of Psychiatry, Kashiwa Hospital , Jikei University School of Medicine , Chiba , Japan.
authors.forename: Keisuke
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Inamura
authors.forename: Norifumi
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Tsuno
authors.forename: Shunichiro
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Shinagawa
authors.forename: Tomoyuki
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Nagata
authors.forename: Kenji
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Tagai
authors.forename: Kazuhiko
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Nakayama
mesh_terms: D017668:Age of Onset; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D001007:Anxiety / Q000150:complications / Q000503:physiopathology*; D001288:Attention / Q000502:physiology*; D003072:Cognition Disorders / Q000209:etiology / Q000503:physiopathology*; D056344:Executive Function / Q000502:physiology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008570:Memory, Short-Term / Q000502:physiology; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D013001:Somatoform Disorders / Q000150:complications / Q000503:physiopathology*
keywords: anxiety; cognitive functioning; other disorders