Cognitive functions in drug-free patients with major depressive disorder

This study was planned to evaluate the cognitive functions of patients with major depressive disorder. The cognitive functions of newly diagnosed depressive patients were compared with the healthy control group. The research was designed as a case-control study. The population of the research was generated in Adana Dr. Ekrem Tok Mental Health and Disease Hospital Psychiatric Polyclinic with patients who have not used antidepressant before. Of these patients, 44 women and 16 men, aged 20-49, who agreed to participate in the study, constituted the study sample for a total of 60 participants. A simple random sampling method was used to construct a control group, similar to gender and age, consisting of 30 women and 17 men who did not receive the diagnosis of depression. Personal Information Form, Beck Depression Scale (BDS) and Trail-Making Test (TMT) were used as data collection tools in the study. According to findings in the study, it was found that the patients with depression diagnosis had more impairments in complex attention functions than the control group. Scores of the Trail-Making Test of 60 patients, who were diagnosed with major depression according to the DSM-V criteria, were compared with the scores of the control group. The scores of the group with major depressive disorder were compared according to the age of 20-49 years, gender and education level (5-11 years and over 12 years). A significant difference was found between two groups when scores of the Trail-Making Test were examined. Patients with depression were found to have significantly longer duration of completion of all sections in the Trail-Making Test than the control group, including TMT-A and TMT-B. In addition, it was determined that the patients with MDD had more error and correction rates than the control group, regarding the TMT-B part. A positive correlation was also found between TMT and BDS scores. While TMT scores did not show any significant difference on age and gender variables, a significant difference was found according to education level. The results of this study support the finding that cognitive functions of patients with major depressive disorder are impaired.