Attentional subdomains’ deficits in Brazilian patients with major depressive episodes.

Objective: Studies conducted in developed countries have shown that attentional impairment is commonly seen in patients with major depressive disorders (MDD). There is a lack of studies using culture-free neuropsychological instruments. Additionally, attention consists of different subdomains. Deficits in subdomains have not been investigated in MDD. Studies on subdomains using systematic frameworks are needed. We aimed to verify the percentage of Brazilian MDD patients with attention deficits, using a culture-free instrument; compare different attention subdomains in MDD patients with paired controls; find the subdomain that best discriminated controls from MDD patients. Method: Forty-five unmedicated patients currently with MDD and 45 age- and sex-matched controls participated in the study. Attention performance was measured by a Go/No-go task which detected omission errors, commission errors, reaction time (RT), and variability of reaction time (VRT). These variables assess four specific subdomains: focused attention (omission errors), response inhibition (commission errors), alertness (RT), and sustained attention (VRT). MANCOVAs were used to test group differences and logistic regressions to find the strongest predictor of MDD. Results: Compared with normative data, 73.3% of the patients and 17.7% of the controls exhibited attention deficits, defined as a z-score
Source: Neuropsychology - Category: Neurology Source Type: research