This thesis explores the relationship between memory self-report, depression and neuropsychological performance at both baseline and six months following coronary artery bypass graft surgery (CABG). An additional important refinement on previous work included the adoption of a theoretically driven approach to calculate post-test change scores (Standardized Based Regression) in order to control measurement error, practice effects and regression-to-the-mean. A further important refinement included the analysis of different subtypes of depression and how they affect patient perceptions of memory over time. A prospective study of 64 elective CABG surgery patients (mean age 65.4 years) was undertaken pre-operatively and six months post-operatively, along with the assessment of 50 normal control participants (mean age 68.6 years). The neuropsychological test battery was selected in accordance with the Statement of Consensus on the Assessment of Neurobehavioural Outcomes after Cardiac Surgery (Murkin et al., 1995). Standardized self-report measures of depression and memory self-report were also included, namely the DASS and MAC-S. Unexpectedly, results showed that both CABG patients and controls scored in the 'normal' range for depression at both testing intervals. However, at baseline assessment, analyses showed small, significant correlations between memory self report and depression as well as between memory self-report and the CVLT variable Short Delay Free Recall. The depressive subscales of Inertia and Self-deprecation also emerged as significant predictors of memory self-report using hierarchical regression analysis. At follow-up assessment, no significant correlations were found between memory self report, depression or any neuropsychological variable. However, the DASS depression subscale of Devaluation of Life entered as a significant predictor of memory self-report. Collectively, these results provide little evidence of a relationship between subjective and objective measures of memory. However, they indicate that relatively non-depressed patients can show mild variants of the cognitive biases and symptoms classically related to clinical depression and that these symptoms correlate significantly with perceptions of memory. Although no consistent trends were found over time, excluding any inferences of causality, this study was the first to systematically examine the relationship between depressive symptoms and memory self-report, with a view to assisting clinicians to identify patients more inclined to over-report memory failure. / Thesis (PhD)--University of South Australia, 2006.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:ADTP/267177 |
| Creators | Irvine, Lisa Elizabeth. |
| Source Sets | Australiasian Digital Theses Program |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Rights | copyright under review |
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