Effect of depression on response inhibition of patients after traumatic brain injury

Abstract

Objective To investigate the effect of depression on response inhibition of patients after traumatic brain injury (TBI).  Methods Glasgow Coma Scale (GCS), Hamilton Depression Rating Scale-17 Items (HAMD-17) and Activities of Daily Living (ADL) were used to assess the severity of trauma, depression and activities of daily living in 104 TBI patients (54 with depression and 50 without depression). Besides, 51 normal controls with matched age, sex and education were enrolled. Stimulus-Response Compatibility (SRC) task was employed to record the reaction time (RT) of response inhibition of the subjects in 3 groups.  Results Both HAMD-17 and ADL scores in TBI with depression group were significantly higher than those in TBI without depression group (P = 0.000, 0.000) and normal control group (P = 0.000, 0.000). Besides, HAMD-17 and ADL scores in TBI without depression group were significantly higher than those in normal control group (P = 0.000, 0.000). Compared with normal control group, no matter in compatible or incompatible condition, RT was significantly longer in both TBI groups (P = 0.000, 0.000). RT was much longer in TBI with depression group than that in TBI without depression group (P = 0.000).  Conclusions Cognitive dysfunction is a common symptom after TBI, which may exist 6 months after injury or even longer. TBI combined with depression could aggravate the impaired cognitive function, so early identification and timely intervention is very important.

DOI: 10.3969/j.issn.1672-6731.2016.06.004