ORIGINAL ARTICLE   

Minerva Psychiatry 2021 June;62(2):79-85

DOI: 10.23736/S2724-6612.20.02119-6

Copyright © 2020 EDIZIONI MINERVA MEDICA

lingua: Inglese

Cognitive impairment and depression in patients with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis

Hala A. SHAHEEN ¹, Assem F. ELESSAWY ², Wafaa ABDEL-WAHED ³, Asmaa N. MOHAMED ⁴, Radwa A. ELHEFNY ² ✉

¹ Department of Neurology, Faculty of Medicine, Fayoum University, Faiyoum, Egypt; ² Department of Chest Diseases, Fayoum University, Cairo, Egypt; ³ Department of Public Health and Community Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, Fayoum University, Fayoum, Egypt; ⁴ Chest Hospital, Fayoum, Egypt

BACKGROUND: Idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis is a chronic and progressive condition. The hallmark symptom is breathlessness, which progressively limits the ability of patients to carry out routine activities. IPF affects an individual’s sense of wellbeing, with anxiety, depression and fatigue often accompanying exertional limitation, leading to a loss of health status. Neurocognitive dysfunction - a significant and extraordinary complication of IPF - influences patients’ career, family and social life, and reduces quality of life to some extent; these defects in general intellectual function and executive function were strongly linked to the degree of hypoxia but the mechanisms responsible for this dysfunction have not been elucidated. The aim of this study was to investigate presence of cognitive deficits and depression in patients with IPF.
METHODS: One hundred persons with IPF were enrolled, and 50 healthy persons were enrolled for control. Depression was evaluated using Beck Depression Inventory (BDI). The cognitive examination assessed by mini-mental state examination (MMSE), controlled oral word association test (COWT) and trial making test part B (TMPB).
RESULTS: All cases had depressive symptoms: 9% had moderate depression, 52% had severe depression and 39% had extreme depression. There was a significant association between depression and hypoxia. Moreover, there was a significant difference between MMSE in cases compared to control. As regards MMSE and TMTB scores showed significant association with pulmonary arterial hypertension.
CONCLUSIONS: Depression is common and neurocognitive dysfunction is a significant complication of IPF.

KEY WORDS: Idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis; Depression; Cognition