Prospective Memory Impairment in Chronic Heart Failure

Abstract

Although cognitive deficits are common in patients with chronic heart failure (CHF), no study to date has investigated whether these deficits extend to the capacity to execute delayed intentions (prospective memory, PM). This is a surprising omission given the critical role PM plays in correctly implementing many important CHF self-care behaviors. The present study aimed to provide the first empirical assessment of PM function in people with CHF. The key dependent measure was a laboratory measure of PM that closely simulates PM tasks in daily life -Virtual Week. A group comparison design was used, with 30 CHF patients compared to 30 demographically matched controls. Background measures assessing executive functions, working memory, and verbal memory were also administered. The CHF group exhibited significant PM impairment, with difficulties generalizing across different types of PM tasks (event, time, regular, irregular). The CHF group also had moderate deficits on several of the background cognitive measures. Given the level of impairment remained consistent even on tasks that imposed minimal demands on memory for task content, CHF-related difficulties most likely reflects problems with the prospective component. However, exploratory analyses suggest that difficulties with retrospective memory and global cognition (but not executive control), also contribute to the PM difficulties seen in this group. The implications of these data are discussed, and in particular, it is argued that problems with PM may help explain why patient engagement in CHF self-care behaviors is often poor. (JINS, 2015, 21, 1-10)

Self-management of heart failure in dementia and cognitive impairment: a systematic review

“…Included studies utilized various measures to ascertain HF self-care including disease knowledge ( n = 1) (16], The Kansas City Cardiomyopathy Questionnaire (KCCQ) (n = 1) (17], prospective memory ( n = 1) [18], adherence to prescribed medication and lifestyle regimens ( n = 2) [19, 20], ability to complete activities of daily living (ADLs) and independent activities of daily living (IADLs) ( n = 2) [21, 22], The European Heart Failure Self-Care Behavior Scale (EHFScB-9) (n = 1) [23, 24] and The SCHFI ( n = 6) [9, 25–32] of which one [31] study also utilized the EHFScB-9 (Table 1).…”

An Investigation of Emotion Recognition and Theory of Mind in People with Chronic Heart Failure

“…The final sample of CHF patients included 31 adults. A subset of this final sample has been reported on previously [ 33 ], but not with regards to social cognitive performance.…”

Prospective memory impairment in chronic heart failure: a replication study

“…Prospective memory (PM), the ability to remember to perform tasks at some point in the future, is implicated in various important functional behaviours (Hering, Kliegel, Rendell, Craik, & Rose, 2018). Deficits in PM functioning occur after stroke (Kim, Craik, Luo, & Ween, 2009) and in HF (Habota et al, 2015), where many selfcare behaviours (e.g., medication adherence, weight monitoring) place a heavy load on intentional cognitive abilities (Habota et al, 2015).…”

“…Moreover, PM performance requires the application of multiple cognitive elements (McDaniel & Einstein, 2007;Reynolds et al, 2009), such as retrospective memory and executive control processes (e.g., working memory, attentional control and inhibition, and cognitive initiation). This is an important consideration given that these individual cognitive domains are impaired in HF patients (Alosco et al, 2013;Habota et al, 2015). Habota et al (2015) found that compared to a group of demographicallymatched controls, patients with HF had pervasive impairments in PM.…”

“…This is an important consideration given that these individual cognitive domains are impaired in HF patients (Alosco et al, 2013;Habota et al, 2015). Habota et al (2015) found that compared to a group of demographicallymatched controls, patients with HF had pervasive impairments in PM. To test the reliability and generalisability of these findings, the current study aimed to replicate, in a different and larger sample of HF patients, the existence of PM deficits, compared to healthy-matched controls.…”