Changes in Spatial Working Memory in Stable Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease: A Retrospective Study

Abstract

Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is characterized by irreversible airflow limitation and is often accompanied by cognitive impairment. Little is known about the working memory of COPD patients. The aim of the study is to evaluate the spatial working memory of COPD patients using the classical visuospatial working memory neuropsychological paradigms. This was a retrospective study of patients with COPD who were evaluated for neurocognitive functions between February and December 2018 at Hefei Second People’s Hospital. Healthy controls (HC) were included. The neuropsychological tests included the Beijing Version of the Montreal Cognitive Assessment Test (MoCA), digit span test (DS), Chinese Auditory Verbal Learning Test (CAVLT), Stroop test, and Verbal Fluency Test (VFT). The COPD group performed worse in MoCA (22.3±4.5 vs. 26.1±2.9, P<0.001), Stroop interference test (44.2±16.9 vs. 36.8±10.3, P=0.038), and VFT (12.9±2.8 vs. 15.3±4.7, P=0.021) vs. the HC group. Compared with the HC group, COPD patients had statistically significant differences with respect to 0-back RT (657±46 vs. 578±107, P=0.001), 1-back accuracy (41.8±12.1% vs. 81.5±18.1%, P<0.001), 1-back RT (592±75 vs. 431±138, P<0.001), 2-back accuracy (31.4±9.9% vs. 68.1±16.6%, P<0.001), and 2-back RT (563±79 vs. 455±153, P=0.002). Only PaO2 was independently associated with 0-back RT (B=0.992±0.428, P=0.028) and 1-back ACC (B=0.003±0.001, P=0.004). COPD patients exhibit impairment in working memory and executive function, but not in short- or long-term memory. The impairment of working memory in a patient with COPD may be more due to integrate memory information rather than to memory information storage. COPD patients exhibit a frontal-type cognitive decline.

A comparison of two obesity-related hypoventilation disorders: Impact on sleep, quality of life and neurocognitive outcomes and the effects of positive airway pressure therapy

“…In addition, both conditions are also associated with higher rates of vascular disease. Despite this, baseline results from our cohorts did not differ significantly from previous reports of neuropsychological function in OSAS and COPD samples [ 39 , 40 ].…”

The Association Between Cognitive Functions and Psychological Factors in Patients with Severe COPD

“…Several studies [49][50][51][52][53][54] examining patients with COPD and cognitive functions based on MoCA have reported results on psychological factors like anxiety and depression. However, some of these studies 49,51,54 are using other psychological tests than HADS or use a MoCA cut-off value of 21 to identify CI.…”

“…Several studies [49][50][51][52][53][54] examining patients with COPD and cognitive functions based on MoCA have reported results on psychological factors like anxiety and depression. However, some of these studies 49,51,54 are using other psychological tests than HADS or use a MoCA cut-off value of 21 to identify CI. 52 We found only one study, 53 with a HADS mean anxiety (HADS-A) and depression (HADS-D) score and with diagnosed CI (based on a MoCA cut off value of 26), that showed no statistically significant differences in mean anxiety (HADS-A) or depression (HADS-D) score between patients with CI and without CI, similarly to the findings in our study.…”

Cognitive Functions in Patients with Moderate-to-Severe Obstructive Sleep Apnea Syndrome with Emphasis on Executive Functions and Decision-Making

“…Participants are given a total of 18 guesses in which they can choose a single number, or a combination of two to four numbers (see Figure 1). As long as one of the selected combinations of numbers matches the number shown on the screen, the asset corresponding to the bet can be won [16]. The safety options showed smaller monetary bets and larger, more diverse numerical combinations; whereas the risk (or adverse) option showed higher monetary bets and fewer numerical combinations.…”