The screen for cognitive impairment in psychiatry (SCIP) is associated with disease severity and cognitive complaints in major depression

Abstract

Objective: To assess the relationship between the Screen for Cognitive Impairment in Psychiatry (SCIP) score and illness severity, subjective cognition and functioning in a cohort of major depressive disorder (MDD) patients.

Methods: Patients (n = 40) diagnosed with MDD (DSM-IV-TR) completed the SCIP, a brief neuropsychological test, and a battery of self-administered questionnaires evaluating functioning (GAF, SDS, WHODAS 2.0, EDEC, PDQ-D5). Disease severity was evaluated with the Hamilton Depression Rating Scale (HDRS) and the Clinical Global Impression (CGI).

Results: Age and sex were associated with performance in the SCIP. The SCIP-Global index score was associated with disease severity (r = −0.316, p < .05), the SDS, a patient self-assessment of daily functioning (r = −0.368, p < .05), and the EDEC subscales of patient-reported cognitive deficits (r = −0.388, p < .05) and their functional impacts (r = −0.335, p < .05). Multivariate analysis adjusted for age and sex confirmed these tests are independent predictors of performance in the SCIP (CGI-S, F_[3,34] = 4.478, p = .009; SDS, F_[3,34] = 3.365, p = .030; EDEC-perceived cognitive deficits, F_[3,34] = 5.216, p = .005; EDEC-perceived impacts of functional impairment, F_[3,34] = 5.154, p = .005).

Conclusions: This study confirms that the SCIP can be used during routine clinical evaluation of MDD, and that cognitive deficits objectively assessed in the SCIP are associated with disease severity and self-reported cognitive dysfunction and impairment in daily life.

Keywords:

• Screen for cognition in psychiatry
• cognition
• depression
• cognitive testing
• function
• clinical trial
• cognitive deficit

Acknowledgements

The authors would like to thank research coordinators Akram Djouini, Mara DuBow, Souad Lahlafi, Camille Levesque and Patricia Gravel for their contributions.

Disclosure statement

S.V. Tourjman has received honoraria for conferences and advisory board participation from Astra Zeneca, Bristol Myers Squibb, Janssen, Lilly, Lundbeck, Otsuka, Pfizer, Purdue, Shire, and Valeant. She has also received research contracts or grants from Astra Zeneca, Bristol Myers Squibb, Lilly, Lundbeck, Otsuka, Pfizer, and Shire. S. Purdon has received speaker/consultant fees from Lundbeck, research grant support from Eli Lilly, and royalties from TEA Endiciones. All other authors declare that they have no conflicts of interest.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by Prends soins de toi.