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Poor insight into memory impairment in patients with Huntington disease
- Kliniczny Oddział Neurologii, Samodzielny Publiczny Szpital Kliniczny nr 1, Śląski Uniwersytet Medyczny w Katowicach
- Zakład Pielęgniarstwa Neurologiczno-Psychiatrycznego, Gdański Uniwersytet Medyczny
- Katedra i Klinika Rehabilitacji, Gdański Uniwersytet Medyczny
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Abstract
Patients suffering from Huntington disease (HD) have been shown to present with poor self-awareness of a variety of symptoms. The study aimed to assess the self-awareness of memory impairment in HD in comparison to advanced Parkinson disease (PD), mild PD and cervical dystonia.
Material and methodsSelf-awareness was tested in 23 patients with HD by comparing patient and caregiver ratings in reference to clinical control groups (25 patients with advanced PD, 21 with mild PD and 20 with cervical dystonia). Self-awareness was tested using the Self Rating Scale of Memory Functions, which was administered to both the patients and the caregivers. Neuropsychological assessment addressed general cognitive status (Mini-Mental State Examination), verbal learning (Auditory Verbal Learning Test, 15-word list) and mood (Montgomery-Asberg Depression Rating Scale).
ResultsPatients with HD significantly underestimated their memory dysfunction. Underestimation of memory deficit correlated with disease duration and disease severity in HD.
ConclusionsHuntington disease patients underestimate memory dysfunction. These results add to the previous reports on poor insight in HD in other domains and suggest that anosognosia in HD, albeit usually rather mild, may be a generalized phenomenon.
Abstract
Patients suffering from Huntington disease (HD) have been shown to present with poor self-awareness of a variety of symptoms. The study aimed to assess the self-awareness of memory impairment in HD in comparison to advanced Parkinson disease (PD), mild PD and cervical dystonia.
Material and methodsSelf-awareness was tested in 23 patients with HD by comparing patient and caregiver ratings in reference to clinical control groups (25 patients with advanced PD, 21 with mild PD and 20 with cervical dystonia). Self-awareness was tested using the Self Rating Scale of Memory Functions, which was administered to both the patients and the caregivers. Neuropsychological assessment addressed general cognitive status (Mini-Mental State Examination), verbal learning (Auditory Verbal Learning Test, 15-word list) and mood (Montgomery-Asberg Depression Rating Scale).
ResultsPatients with HD significantly underestimated their memory dysfunction. Underestimation of memory deficit correlated with disease duration and disease severity in HD.
ConclusionsHuntington disease patients underestimate memory dysfunction. These results add to the previous reports on poor insight in HD in other domains and suggest that anosognosia in HD, albeit usually rather mild, may be a generalized phenomenon.
Keywords
Huntington disease, verbal learning, awareness
Title
Poor insight into memory impairment in patients with Huntington disease
Journal
Neurologia i Neurochirurgia Polska
Issue
Pages
318-325
Page views
325
Article views/downloads
621
DOI
10.5114/ninp.2012.30262
Bibliographic record
Neurol Neurochir Pol 2012;46(4):318-325.
Keywords
Huntington disease
verbal learning
awareness
Authors
Emilia J. Sitek
Witold Sołtan
Piotr Robowski
Michał Schinwelski
Dariusz Wieczorek
Jarosław Sławek