Longitudinal analysis of verbal episodic memory in patients with relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis

• Main Author: Boa,Izadora Nogueira Fonte
• Publication Date: 2018
• Other Authors: Rimkus,Carolina de Medeiros, Campanholo,Kenia Repiso, Pereira,Samira Luisa Apóstolos, Junqueira,Thiago de Faria, Machado,Melissa de Almeida Rodrigues, Callegaro,Dagoberto, Otaduy,Maria Concepción García, Leite,Claudia da Costa, Miotto,Eliane Correa
• Format: Article
• Language: eng
• Source: Arquivos de neuro-psiquiatria (Online)
• Download full: http://old.scielo.br/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S0004-282X2018000500302
• topic: multiple sclerosis; cognition; longitudinal studies

ABSTRACT Objective: A 4.5-year follow-up study was conducted to characterize baseline verbal episodic memory (VEM) and its behavior and to assess the effects of relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis (RRMS) on this domain. Methods: Twenty-nine patients with RRMS underwent two neuropsychological assessments performed an average of 4.5 years apart. Twenty-six control participants underwent a single neuropsychological assessment. A significance level of p < 0.005 was adopted to denote a significant difference between the groups on the Mann Whitney and Wilcoxon paired statistical analyses. Results: No statistical difference was found in the results of the VEM tests between the first and second neuropsychological assessments of the patients. However, a statistical difference was evident between the patient and control groups in the results of the VEM tests. Conclusion: The patient group showed changes in the VEM relative to the control group. After approximately 4.5 years of disease, the patient performance on the VEM stabilized or improved.