Attention impairment associated with relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis patients with mild incapacity.

Full Abstract

Neuropsychological studies have consistently reported cognitive dysfunctions associated with multiple sclerosis. One-hundred fifteen subjects with relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis (RRMS) were compared with forty health controls according to a neuropsychological test battery, which included digit span, trail making, cancellation and stroop test. Both groups were matched for age, sex and educational level. Subjects with RRMS had a worse performance the speed of response. Subjects with RRMS spent more time to complete the test in either sections A (p=0.001) or B (p=0.001), although there was no significant difference in terms of number of errors. The total time required to finish the Stroop test was higher for subjects with RRMS (p<0.001), being the time difference between groups significant at trial 4 (p<0.001). Attention impairment in subjects with RRMS is related to slowed central processing, which may be affected in all stages, including impairment of automatic and controlled processing of information and in the motor program.

Author information

Author/s: Balsimelli, Silvia (S); Mendes, Maria Fernanda (MF); Bertolucci, Paulo H F (PH); Tilbery, Charles Peter (CP);

Affiliation: Department of Neurology, Santa Casa School of Medical Sciences, São Paulo, SP, Brazil.

Journal and publication information

Publication Type: Controlled Clinical Trial; Journal Article

Journal: Arquivos de neuro-psiquiatria (Arq Neuropsiquiatr), published in Brazil. (Language: eng)

Reference: 2007-Jun; vol 65 (issue 2A) : pp 262-7

Dates: Created 2007/07/03; Completed 2008/03/13;

PMID: 17607425, status: MEDLINE (last retrieval date: 2/18/2009, IMS Date: )

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