Cognitive Symptoms In Major Depressive Disorder And Their Italian Psychiatrists' Perception

Objectives: Major Depressive Disorder (MDD) may significantly affect cognitive domains of attention, concentration and memory. While the burden of cognitive dysfunction in Schizophrenia is well established, the investigation of cognitive impairment in Bipolar Disorder (BD) and MDD has attracted the interest of research only more recently. Therefore, it is of great interest to understand clinician’s perception about cognitive dysfunction in MDD and to raise awareness about this issue. Methods: Between December 2014 and January 2015, 128 Italian psychiatrists were recruited to participate to an on-line survey whose aim was to understand psychiatrists’ perception about cognitive symptoms in MDD. The questionnaire comprised three sections: the first investigating psychiatrists’ sociodemographic and professional profile, the second assessing cognitive symptoms relevance without mentioning they represented the study focus and the third explicitly investigating cognitive symptoms. Results: Cognitive symptoms were considered a relevant dimension of MDD and they appeared amongst the most frequently cited residual symptoms compromising patients’ work and influencing relapse risk. About 70% of psychiatrists declared that cognitive symptoms significantly influence the antidepressant choice. However, in the previous questionnaire section where focus on cognitive symptoms was not revealed yet, cognitive symptoms appeared less frequently considered for antidepressant choice. Conclusions: Study results revealed a clear understanding of cognitive symptoms relevance in MDD. Nevertheless, the discrepancy between psychiatrists’ perception and their therapeutical choices underlines the presence of an unmet need that should be addressed increasing the awareness about the positive effects on cognitive symptoms of existing drugs, which could allow a more symptom-oriented therapeutical intervention.