Titre du document / Document title

Cognitive function in outpatients with perceived chronic stress

Auteur(s) / Author(s)

OHMAN Lena ⁽¹⁾ ; NORDIN Steven ^{(1 2)} ; BERGDAHL Jan ^{(1 3)} ; BIRGANDER Lisbeth Slunga ⁽⁴⁾ ; NEELY Anna Stigsdotter ⁽¹⁾ ;

Affiliation(s) du ou des auteurs / Author(s) Affiliation(s)

⁽¹⁾ Department of Psychology, UmeÅ University, UmeÅ, SUEDE
⁽²⁾ Department of Occupational and Environmental Medicine, Örebro University Hospital, Örebro, SUEDE
⁽³⁾ Institute of Clinical Dentistry Faculty of Medicine, University of Tromso, Tromso, NORVEGE
⁽⁴⁾ Department of Public Health and Clinical Medicine, UmeÅ University, UmeÅ, SUEDE

Résumé / Abstract

Objectives The number of employees on sick leave due to stress-related syndromes has increased drastically in many industrialized countries. Cognitive dysfunction is a common complaint among patients suffering from chronic stress. Previous research on chronic stress has mainly focused on its interpersonal, attitudinal, psychological, organizational, and physical effects. Less attention has been allocated to effects of chronic stress on cognitive functioning. Hence the aim of the present study was to investigate the relationship between chronic stress and cognition. Methods The cognitive performance of 19 chronic stress outpatients and 19 matched controls was studied. A battery of standard and experimental cognitive tests assessing processing speed, attention, working memory, and episodic and semantic memory were administered. Results Performance deficits of the chronic stress patients relative to the performance of the controls were found for some but not all cognitive tasks, indicating a selective deficit. Deficits were found for episodic memory, particularly for learning across repeated trials and for tasks requiring divided attention during either the encoding or retrieval of words. Performance differences were also found for aspects of working memory, mental tempo, semantic access, and prospective memory, but not for basic perceptual speed measures. Conclusions These findings may suggest suboptimal executive functioning (eg, strategic or attentional control) among chronic stress patients. Particularly, poor performance in letter fluency and prospective memory were significantly associated with chronic stress, the finding suggesting the usefulness of these tests as clinical tools in evaluations of chronic stress states.

Revue / Journal Title

Scandinavian journal of work, environment & health   ISSN 0355-3140 

Source / Source

2007, vol. 33, n^o3, pp. 223-232 [10 page(s) (article)] (51 ref.)

Langue / Language

Anglais

Editeur / Publisher

Scandinavian journal of work, environment & health, Helsinki, FINLANDE  (1975) (Revue)

Mots-clés anglais / English Keywords

Occupational medicine ; Europe ; Sweden ; Memory ; Executive function ; Occupational burnout ; Memory disorder ; Stress ; Chronic ; Performance ; Human ; Occupational environment ; Cognitive disorder ;

Mots-clés français / French Keywords

Médecine du travail ; Europe ; Suède ; Mémoire ; Fonction exécutive ; Epuisement professionnel ; Trouble mémoire ; Stress ; Chronique ; Performance ; Homme ; Milieu professionnel ; Trouble cognition ;

Mots-clés espagnols / Spanish Keywords

Medicina ocupacional ; Europa ; Suecia ; Memoria ; Función ejecutiva ; Agotiamento profesional ; Trastorno memoria ; Estrés ; Crónico ; Rendimiento ; Hombre ; Medio profesional ; Trastorno cognitivo ;

Mots-clés d'auteur / Author Keywords

burnout ; executive functioning ; memory ; work stress ;

Localisation / Location

INIST-CNRS, Cote INIST : 17954, 35400016289226.0070