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Menopause and Cognitive Function : Hospitalized Female Patients with Depression  

You, Ji-Young (Department of Psychiatry, Incheon St. Mary's Hospital, College of Medicine, The Catholic University of Korea)
Min, Jung-Ah (Department of Psychiatry, Incheon St. Mary's Hospital, College of Medicine, The Catholic University of Korea)
Jeon, Yang-Whan (Department of Psychiatry, Incheon St. Mary's Hospital, College of Medicine, The Catholic University of Korea)
Han, Sang-Ick (Department of Psychiatry, Incheon St. Mary's Hospital, College of Medicine, The Catholic University of Korea)
Park, E-Jin (Department of Psychiatry, Incheon St. Mary's Hospital, College of Medicine, The Catholic University of Korea)
Publication Information
Korean Journal of Biological Psychiatry / v.23, no.4, 2016 , pp. 199-204 More about this Journal
Abstract
Objectives Although forgetfulness is a common complaint among menopausal depressed women, there is still a debate about the relationship between memory impairment and menopause. The aim of this study is to examine whether menopause is related to cognitive decline among women with depressive disorders. We hypothesized that postmenopausal depressed women show generally poorer performance than premenopausal depressed women on various cognitive function tests. Methods With a retrospective chart review, we identified a total of 87 female patients (45 premenopausal patients and 42 postmenopausal patients) who were hospitalized with depressive disorders from 2000 to 2016. Demographic and clinical variables and cognitive test results were compared between two groups. Results Education year is longer in premenopausal group than postmenopausal group whereas clinical characteristics (illness duration, recurrence, and symptom severity) and mean Intelligence Quotient (IQ) were similar between two groups. The postmenopausal group took longer time for Bender-Gestalt Test (BGT) recall, Trail Making Test (TMT)-A, and TMT-B than the premenopausal group. After controlling for age and education, significant difference was remained for BGT recall (p = 0.029). Conclusions Postmenopausal state may be related with decline of visuospatial memory function, in particular, among depressed female patients. Other areas of cognitive function including complex attention, verbal memory, auditory memory, and working memory might be interpreted while considering age and education level.
Keywords
Menopause; Cognitive function; Depression;
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