Background: This article intends to verify the association of dysfunctional beliefs of personality disorders with the executive performance in people with juvenile myoclonic epilepsy (JME). Methods: Fifty-two patients (35 women, 67.3%) with JME aged 18-50 yrs. (32.3 ± 9.7) were evaluated between May 2017 and April 2018 and compared with controls. All subjects were submitted to the Personality Beliefs Questionnaire (PBQ) (Beck & Beck, 1991;Savoia et al., 2006), Dysexecutive Questionnaire (DQ; Wilson et al., 1996;Macuglia et al., 2016), estimated intelligence quotient (IQ) using Vocabulary and Block Design tests, attention and executive functions evaluation (Controlled Oral Word Association (COWA), Digit Span, Trail Making Tests (TMT) A and B, Stroop and Wisconsin Card Sorting Test (WCST)). The inclusion criteria were as follows: diagnosis of JME (ILAE, 1989); age ≥18 yrs., schooling ≥ 11 yrs. and IQ ≥70. The inclusion criteria for the control group were the same except diagnosis of epilepsy. Results: Compared with controls, patients presented higher scores in PBQ for personality disorders, namely Narcissistic (z = −0.79; p b 0.001), Borderline (z = −0.58; p = 0.002), Paranoid (z = −0.43; p = 0.017), and Histrionic (z = −0.39; p = 0.041). Executive functions were impaired when compared with controls in TMT A (z = −0.97; p = 0.038), TMT B (z = −0.65; p = 0.023), and COWA (z = −0.51; p = 0.001). Patients showed higher WCST scores for Errors (z = −1.
IntroductionFew studies have objectively evaluated cognitive deficits after the acute phase of COVID-19 disease. Moreover, the role of apolipoprotein E (APOE) genotypes in cognitive decline in patients with COVID-19 has not been evaluated yet.MethodsThis cross-sectional study was conducted in confirmed cases of COVID-19 patients with neurological symptoms that persisted for more than 3 months from the onset. We determined APOE genotypes.ResultsThe final sample consisted of 141 patients. The most frequent APOE genotype was E3/E3 (N = 95; 67.3%). In total, 93 patients (65.9%) had memory impairment symptoms as the main complaint, objectively confirmed through screening tests in 25 patients (17.7%). Patients with cognitive impairment had a lower frequency of anosmia than the normal and subjective cognitive decline (SCD) groups (p = 0.005). In addition, depression was recurrent in the cognitive impairment group and the SCD group (p = 0.046). Cognitive impairment was significantly more frequent in hospitalized patients and those with a lower education level. Cognitive status was not associated with APOE genotypes.DiscussionHospitalized patients had more severe infection with a greater possibility of systemic complications, greater inflammatory response, and prolonged hospitalization, which could impact cognitive performance. Cognitive impairment in patients with COVID-19 does not necessarily involve specific APOE polymorphisms. However, psychiatric disorders may also be responsible for cognitive complaints. Cognitive complaints are frequent in patients with COVID-19, even after the acute phase of the disease and in mild cases. Hospitalized participants and depressed patients may have a higher risk of cognitive impairment. APOE genotypes or haplotypes may not significantly play a role in COVID-19 cognitive impairment.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.