On the clinical significance of reduced executive functions in elderly patients with mental illnesses Research question: Executive functions (EF) show increasing deficits in old age.There are also numerous studies demonstrating the importance of EF in relation to depression, anxiety disorders and post-traumatic stress disorder in older patients.
Methods: The study presented examined this question in a sample of patients in a psychosomatic clinic who were in middle (< 60years) and older age (≥ 60years) (N = 150) and compared them with a psychologically non-stressed comparison sample (N = 157).The survey instrument used to assess EF was the Trail-Making Test (TMT).
Results: The results show age and setting differences, i. e. older as well as mentally ill subjects showed worse results; an interaction effect was also found. Associations of symptoms and EF were found only in the elderly sample, but not in the middle-aged sample.
Conclusions: The results show that the importance of impaired executive functions is a clinically relevant variable in psychotherapy of the elderly.
期刊介绍：
This journal provides a systematic overview of the entire field of psychosomatic medicine. It is also the official organ of the German Society for Psychosomatic Medicine and Medical Psychotherapy (DGPM). It serves as a forum for discussions of the interdisciplinary experiences in the field of psychosomatics, the goal being the furtherance of scientific insights into the interactions between mental and physical factors in the development of disease. It also provides a way to deepen one´s knowledge of psychoanalysis and to explore new therapeutic directions.
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