Cognitive dysfunction in patients with major depressive disorder: an observational cross-sectional study in inpatients in a tertiary center in Romania

Major depressive disorder (MDD) is considered one of the most debilitating psychiatric disorders, with a high rate of relapse and recurrence. Several studies evaluated cognitive dysfunctions in MDD: executive function, decision-making capacity, memory, attention, and processing speed. This study aimed to examine the cognitive dysfunction of patients with MDD. The study was conducted on 81 patients (56 males) aged between 21 and 75 years old with the primary diagnosis of MDD admitted in a psychiatric ward from a tertiary center in Romania. The instruments used were: introductive questionnaire, modified fatigue impact scale, cognitive failures questionnaire, perceived deficits questionnaire, cognitive complaints questionnaire, Hamilton depression scale, decision-making capacity questionnaire, and apathy scale. There are several positive correlations between depression severity and fatigability, apathy and cognitive variables. There are dif-ferences between patients in terms of depression severity depending on: the existence of suicide attempts, mode of presentation, fatigue, apathy and almost all cognitive variables, except decision-making capacity. In almost 36% of the cases, depression severity can be predicted by apathy, cognitive dysfunction, fatigue, personal history and the mode of presentation (admission directly to the ward, admission throught the Emergency Depart-ment, or via Ambulance or Police intervention). Assessing and treating cognitive symptoms in MDD improves functional outcomes. Cognitive deficits exist both in acute phases and remission phases. Most treatment options focus on the affective symptoms, but recently cognitive remission has been set as a new goal for patients with MDD