title: Cognitive Dysfunction in Patients With Late-Life Somatic Symptom Disorder: A Comparison According to Disease Severity.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Late-life somatic symptom disorder (SSD) is characterized by various aging-associated factors, such as a functional decline, psychosocial problems, and cognitive dysfunction. However, the details of the cognitive dysfunction that occur in late-life SSD are still unknown.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  The aims of this study were to reveal the cognitive profile of patients with late-life SSD and to evaluate how cognitive dysfunction affects disease severity.
  
  
  METHODS
  We compared the cognitive profiles of patients with late-life SSD (n = 40) with those of normal control subjects (n = 21). In addition, we divided the patients with late-life SSD into mild-to-moderate (n = 24) and severe (n = 16) groups and compared the cognitive profiles of the 3 groups.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Patients with late-life SSD exhibited a lower Mini-Mental State Examination total score and attention decline. In the 3-group comparison, the severe group had a lower Mini-Mental State Examination score and Frontal Assessment Battery score than the normal control group, whereas no significant difference was seen between the mild-to-moderate and the normal control groups.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Our data suggest that different cognitive patterns may exist depending on disease severity, possibly indicating differences in pathogenesis.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, Jikei University School of Medicine, Kashiwa Hospital, Chiba, Japan (KI, TN, Kazutaka Nukariya). Electronic address: inamura@jikei.ac.jp.
authors.forename: Keisuke
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Inamura
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, Jikei University School of Medicine, Tokyo, Japan (SS, KT, Kazuhiko Nakayama).
authors.forename: Shunichiro
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Shinagawa
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, Jikei University School of Medicine, Kashiwa Hospital, Chiba, Japan (KI, TN, Kazutaka Nukariya).
authors.forename: Tomoyuki
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Nagata
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, Jikei University School of Medicine, Tokyo, Japan (SS, KT, Kazuhiko Nakayama).
authors.forename: Kenji
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Tagai
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, Jikei University School of Medicine, Kashiwa Hospital, Chiba, Japan (KI, TN, Kazutaka Nukariya).
authors.forename: Kazutaka
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Nukariya
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, Jikei University School of Medicine, Tokyo, Japan (SS, KT, Kazuhiko Nakayama).
authors.forename: Kazuhiko
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Nakayama
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D003072:Cognition Disorders / Q000209:etiology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D011569:Psychiatric Status Rating Scales; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D013001:Somatoform Disorders / Q000150:complications*