title: Neuropsychological function, anxiety, depression and pain impact in fibromyalgia patients.
abstract: Cognitive deficits have a significant impact on the daily performance of fibromyalgia patients. This paper analyzes executive functioning and decision-making performance, and the relationships between these functions and pain, anxiety, depression and medication in fibromyalgia patients. A group of fibromyalgia patients (FG) (n = 85) was compared with a healthy control group (CG) (n = 85) in their performance in the Wisconsin Card Sorting Test (WCST) and the Iowa Gambling Task (IGT). In the WCST, results showed a percentage of non-perseverative errors significantly higher in the CG than in the FG (p = .026), the other variables (percentage of perseverative errors, number of categories and failures to maintain set) showed no significant differences. In relation to decision-making (IGT), once the rules had been learnt, the FG made fewer advantageous choices than the CG, but these differences were not statistically significant (p = .325). In the FG, pain severity (p = .010) and impact on daily activities (p = .016) interfered with decision-making, unlike anxiety, depression or medication, which did no relate to it. In executive function, pain and impact on daily activities were associated with the percentage of perseverative errors (p = .051) and the number of categories (p = .031), whereas pain severity was related to failures to maintain set (p = .039), indicative of increased distractibility and poor attentional ability. In conclusion, FG showed normal performance in executive functioning and decision-making. Moreover, pain was associated with neuropsychological functioning whereas anxiety, depression and medication were not.
authors.affiliation: Universidad de Huelva (Spain).
authors.forename: Ana M
authors.initials: AM
authors.lastname: Cuevas-Toro
authors.affiliation: Universidad de Granada (Spain).
authors.forename: Francisca
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: López-Torrecillas
authors.affiliation: Universidad de Huelva (Spain).
authors.forename: M Carmen
authors.initials: MC
authors.lastname: Díaz-Batanero
authors.affiliation: Universidad de Granada (Spain).
authors.forename: M Nieves
authors.initials: MN
authors.lastname: Pérez-Marfil
mesh_terms: D000203:Activities of Daily Living / Q000523:psychology; D001007:Anxiety / Q000209:etiology*; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D003072:Cognition Disorders / Q000209:etiology*; D003657:Decision Making; D003863:Depression / Q000209:etiology*; D056344:Executive Function; D005260:Female; D005356:Fibromyalgia / Q000150:complications* / Q000523:psychology; D006801:Humans; D008875:Middle Aged; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests; D010146:Pain / Q000209:etiology*