The impact of self-reported depressive symptoms on memory function in neurological outpatients

Objectives To examine the effect of self-reported depressive symptoms on memory function in a non-psychiatric, non-litigation outpatient sample and to identify which memory tests may be most susceptible for depression-related decline. Methods Self-reported depressive symptoms were measured by the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI-II) and memory function was assessed using a wide range of neuropsychological memory tests (digit span, word-list learning, visuospatial learning, incidental memory, story recall). Patients who visited the neurological outpatients clinic and were referred for a neuropsychological examination were included (N = 50). Results Correlation analyses showed that the BDI-II was significantly correlated with immediate story recall, delayed verbal recognition and the digit span. Furthermore, patients with mild or moderate-to-severe depressive symptoms performed worse than non-depressed patients on immediate story recall, but not on any of the other memory tests. Discussion Memory performance is only minimally disrupted in neurological outpatients with depressive symptoms compared to non-depressed outpatients. These results are discussed in relation to limited mental effort and weak encoding in patients with self-reported depressive symptoms