Sex differences in subjective cognitive impairment and clinical correlates in Chinese patients with subthreshold depression

Abstract

Objective Subthreshold depression (SD) is a global mental health problem given its high prevalence, comorbidity, functional impairment, and its association with increased service utilization. However, currently little is known about sex differences of SD in cognitive impairment with clinical correlates. This study aims to explore sex differences in subjective cognitive impairment and clinically associated risk factors in Chinese patients with subthreshold depression (SD). Methods A total of 126 patients with SD, 40 males and 86 females, aged 18–45 years, were included in this cross-sectional observational study. Their general information, psychological assessments, and psychiatric symptom assessments were collected online. The Patient Health Questionnaire depression-9 (PHQ-9), Generalized Anxiety Disorder-7 (GAD-7), Perceived Deficits Questionnaire-Depression (PDQ-D), and Toronto Alexithymia Scale (TAS-20) with 3 subdomains were used. The obtained scores were analyzed with partial correlation and multiple linear regression analysis models. Results Our results showed that females had significantly higher PDQ-D-20 total score than males. However, the differences in TAS-20 and subdomain score according to sex were not significant. Notably, TAS-20 and DDF (difficulty describing feelings) subdomain contributed to cognitive impairment in males, whereas both PHQ-9 total score and TAS-20 or DDF subdomain contributed to cognitive impairment in females. Conclusion These findings revealed significant sex differences in cognitive impairment and clinical correlates in SD, which should be further followed-up in the future.

Additive effect of admission hyperglycemia on left ventricular stiffness in patients following acute myocardial infarction verified by CMR tissue tracking

“…Age, sex and variables with a P value < 0.1 in the univariable analyses were entered into a stepwise multivariable linear regression analysis. The stepwise multiple linear regression can avoid multicollinearity among variables, which is its inherent issue [ 24 , 25 ]. The inter- and intra-observer variabilities for reproducibility were evaluated using the intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC).…”

Bright light therapy-induced improvements of mood, cognitive functions and cerebellar functional connectivity in subthreshold depression: A randomized controlled trial

“…Moreover, even subthreshold depressive symptoms are recently reported associated with multiple negative outcomes, including cognitive dysfunction ( Dotson et al, 2020 ; Hybels, Blazer & Pieper, 2001 ). Cognitive dysfunction had been sporadically emphasized in individuals with StD, ( Dotson et al, 2020 ; Hwang et al, 2015 ; Hybels et al, 2001 ; Lv et al, 2023 ) involving impairments in cognitive processing (memory, decision making, cognitive inflexibility) and cognitive biases (negative thoughts) ( Hwang et al, 2015 ; Lv et al, 2023 ). However, the available evidence is constrained, and the associations between specific dimensions of cognitive dysfunction and StD remains under-elaborated.…”