Cognitive function and emotional disorder in patients with essential tremor / 中国神经精神疾病杂志

ABSTRACT

Objective To investigate the cognitive function and emotional disorder and their interrelationships in patients with essential tremor(ET).Methods The cognitive function was evaluated by using scales such as mini-mental state examination (MMSE), aphasia buttery of Chinese for oral-test and read-test, Rey-Osterreith complex figure (ROF), digit span (DS), similarties tests, symbols-digital test, Wisconsin card sorting test, trail making test A, verbal fluency test and clock drawing test in fourty cases and fourty healthy controls matched on age, education level and handedness.The Hamilton depression scale was applied to assess the emotional state of the patients with ET.Results Compared with healthy controls, patients had significantly lower scores in Rey-Osterreith complex figure (t=6.66,P<0.001),digit span (positive)(t=3.32,P<0.001),symbols-digital test (t=4.18,P<0.001),Wisconsin card sorting test (P<0.05),trail making test A (t=3.59,P<0.001),verbal fluency test (t=-3.98,P<0.001) and clock drawing test (t=-4.18,P<0.001), but similar scores in aphasia buttery of Chinese for oral-test and read-test and similarties tests(P>0.05).The cognitive function scores were not significantly associated with the intensity and duration of tremor in patients with ET(P>0.05).Depression, mostly mild depression, was observed in 52.5 percent of patients with ET.Depression was significantly associated with the age (X~2=27.03, P<0.001) and was observed more frequently in the patients under the age of 50.There was no significant association between the cognitive impairment and depression in patients with ET (P>0.05).Conclusions The patients with ET have a multiple-domain cognitive deficit, in which executive function, attention and memory are impaired more severely.The patients with ET have a high incidence of depressive symptoms.