ObjectiveTo investigate the most frequent depressive symptoms and their association
with cognition in Parkinson's disease (PD) patients with mild cognitive
impairment (MCI).Methods48 patients with PD and 44 controls (CG), aged between 50 and 80 years and
with at least 4 years of formal education, all with MCI and none diagnosed
with depression, were assessed. Patients and controls were matched for age,
education, and Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE) score. Participants
underwent clinical evaluation with a neurologist followed by
neuropsychological assessment employing the instruments: MMSE, Clock Drawing
Test, Verbal Fluency Test (semantic and phonemic), Figures Memory Test
(FMT), Stroop Test, Trail Making Test, Digit Span (WAIS III), Rey Auditory
Verbal Learning Test (RAVLT), Hooper Visual Organization Test, and Beck
Depression Inventory (BDI).ResultsThe most frequent depressive symptoms in the PD group were: difficulty
working, fatigue and sleep disorders (the latter also being present in CG).
BDI score correlated negatively with learning and recognition memory in both
groups. Episodic memory, evaluated by the FMT and RAVLT tests, was the
cognitive function showing greatest impairment.ConclusionSome of the depressive symptoms observed in PD patients with MCI seem to be
attributable to complications of PD, while others are common to both PD and
MCI, making differential diagnoses complex but crucial.