Self-report of cognitive abilities in temporal lobe epilepsy: cognitive, psychosocial, and emotional factors

Improving the assessment of everyday cognitive functioning in patients with epilepsy by means of proxy reports

“…Self-and other-reported cognitive deficits as assessed by a questionnaire were related to neuropsychological test performances. The results of correlation analyses showed a relatively weak relationship between the patients' self-reports and objective cognitive performances, which supports findings of previous studies [1][2][3][4][5][6]. In particular, the patients' subjective perception of memory abilities differed strongly from the collected test scores.…”

“…It helps to assess the cognitive side effects of anticonvulsant medication (AEDs) and possible costs and benefits of epilepsy surgery. However, the self-perception of cognitive functioning frequently does not correspond with standardized neuropsychological test performances [1][2][3][4][5][6]. Patients complain about deficits that tests fail to detect or deny problems that seem likely in light of test scores.…”

Cognitive function does not worsen during pegylated interferon and ribavirin retreatment of chronic hepatitis C†‡

“…Similarly, multiple studies of epilepsy and multiple sclerosis patients demonstrate a consistently stronger relationship between subjective cognitive complaints with measures of depression and anxiety than with performance on objective neuropsychological tests. [41][42][43][44] Therefore, it is possible that the battery of neuropsychological tests used in this study and others do not adequately measure the everyday problems in short-term memory that patients notice the most. Our data clearly demonstrates an increased frequency of depression and emotional distress during treatment, and symptoms of difficulty concentrating and making decisions (Figs.…”

“…Alternatively, the assessment of cognitive function using a battery of objective tests may not adequately capture the cognitive demands and challenges of everyday life that chronic hepatitis C patients experience during antiviral therapy. 44 To further explore these issues, studies using standardized assessment of subjective cognitive symptoms during antiviral treatment compared to mood status and objective performance on a battery of neuropsychological tests are needed.…”

Processing lexical semantics and phonology in epilepsy

“…With respect to their intellectual level, intelligence status remains relatively intact in epilepsy. However, mild cognitive decline, including language and memory impairment, is frequently observed (Motamedi & Meador, 2003) and is ascribed to biological factors (Meador, Gilliam, Kanner, & Pellock, 2001), psychosocial parameters (Banos et al, 2004) and anti-epileptic drug treatment (Meador, 2002;Motamedi & Meador, 2003). Patient entry criteria thus included absence of any other neurological or psychiatric disease, as well as a Mini-Mental State Examination score exceeding 24 points.…”