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Cognitive Impairments in First-Episode Drug-Naïve Versus Medicated Depressive Patients: RBANS in a Chinese Population

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Abstract

Cognitive deficits are a core feature of major depressive disorder (MDD). However, there are no previous studies that directly compare cognitive performance between first-episode drug-naive depressive patients (FDDP) and medicated depressive patients (MDP). Therefore, the aim of this study was to investigate whether there were the differences in cognitive functions between FDDP and MDP. Sixty-two FDDP, 111 MDP and 90 healthy controls were enrolled in a Chinese population. Cognitive functions were assessed using the Repeatable Battery for the Assessment of Neuropsychological Status (RBANS). There were the differences in the RBANS total score (F = 26.55, p < 0.001), subscales of immediate memory (F = 3.95, p = 0.02), language (F = 54.11, p < 0.001) and delayed memory (F = 11.19, p = 0.001) among the three groups after controlling for gender, education, smoking and body mass index (BMI). These differences in the RBANS total score, subscales of language and delayed memory passed the Bonferroni corrections (all, p < 0.05). Compared to healthy controls, FDDP and MDP had poorer cognitive performance including the RBANS total score, and subscales of language and delayed memory (all, p < 0.05) after controlling for the variables. FDDP experienced greater language deficits than MDP (p < 0.05) after controlling for the variables. Education was correlated with the language score in FDDP (r = 0.61, p < 0.001). Multivariate regression analysis indicated that education was an independent contributor to the language score in FDDP (ß = 3.11, t = 5.48, p < 0.001). Our findings indicated that FDDP had poorer language performance than MDP. Moreover, education could influence the language performance in FDDP.

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Acknowledgements

This study was funded by the grants from National Natural Science Foundation of China (81771439 and 81501160), Young Medical Talent of Jiangsu Province (QNRC2016228), Suzhou Key Medical Center for Psychiatric Diseases (Szzx201509), Suzhou Key Diagnosis and Treatment Program (LCZX201515), Suzhou Key Laboratory for Biological Psychiatry (SZS201722), Suzhou Municipal Sci-Tech Bureau Program (SS201706, and SYSD2017133), Wenzhou Municipal Sci-Tech Bureau Program (Y20170077), Health City “531” action plan of Suzhou Municipal, and Zhejiang Province Rising Star in Medicine. These sources had no further role in the design of this study, data collection and analysis, writing of the report, and decision to submit the paper for publication.

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  1. Qiu Fang Jia, Peng Chen and Hong Liang Zhu contributed equally to this work.

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Mental Health, Suzhou Guangji Hospital, The Affiliated Guangji Hospital of Soochow University, Suzhou, 215137, Jiangsu, People’s Republic of China

    Qiu Fang Jia, Peng Chen, Hong Liang Zhu, Shan Shan Chen, Xiao Chu Gu, Xu Yuan Yin, Guang Zhong Yin & Li Hui

  2. Anhui Rongjun Hospital, Bengbu, 233499, Anhui, People’s Republic of China

    Yan Hai Wu

  3. Institute of Mental Health, Suzhou Guangji Hospital, The Affiliated Guangji Hospital of Soochow University, No. 11 Guangqian Road, Suzhou, 215137, Jiangsu Province, People’s Republic of China

    Li Hui

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  1. Qiu Fang Jia
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All procedures performed in this study involving human participants were in accordance with the ethical standards of the institutional research committee and with the 1964 Helsinki declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards.

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Jia, Q.F., Chen, P., Zhu, H.L. et al. Cognitive Impairments in First-Episode Drug-Naïve Versus Medicated Depressive Patients: RBANS in a Chinese Population. Psychiatr Q 90, 471–480 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11126-019-09641-4

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