Assessment of executive functions as a measure of impairments in everyday functioning in persons with HIV

ABSTRACT

Persons with HIV can often present cognitive disorders such as those related to executive functioning, which could affect the daily life activities. The present study was designed to explore the predictive relationship between executive functions according to Miyake’s model and the basic and instrumental skills of everyday functioning in a group of persons with HIV (PWH). Participants were recruited from outpatient treatment Hospital and assessed using a neuropsychological battery, a modified version of the Lawton and Brody basic and instrumental activities of daily life (ADL) scale and the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS). The results showed a low score in the executive function and significant relationship between executive functioning and the instrumental skills of the patients, with set-shifting being one of the most powerful predictors. The processes of executive functioning, particularly set-shifting, are related to the level of functioning in the skills required for independent living in the community, but not the skills of independent living in the home. This study seems to suggest the utility of assessing executive functions as a preventive measure for the development of dependencies in normal daily instrumental skills and as the focus of interdisciplinary interventions.

KEYWORDS:

• HIV
• executive functions
• everyday functioning
• cognitive impairment
• neuropsychology

Acknowledgments

The authors would like to thank all the patients who participated in the study and all the clinicians and workers from Unit of Infectious Diseases of the University Clinical Hospital of Puerto Real (Cádiz) and Hogar GERASA, in specially Unit´s director in the time of the research Dr Antonio Vergara de Campos who made this research possible.

Authors’ contribution

EVM, AGA, AGT and MPG designed the study. AGT participated in the assessment protocols design and administration. AGA and MPG conducted statistical analyses. EVM, AGT and AGA developed a first draft. All the authors contributed to the interpretation of the data, commented on the draft, and approved the final version.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Supplementary material

Supplemental data for this article can be accessed here.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by GILEAD SPAIN in 2014 under Grant REF 14_0141.