Cognitive Dysfunction in Patients With Late-Life Somatic Symptom Disorder: A Comparison According to Disease Severity

Background Late-life somatic symptom disorder (SSD) is characterized by various aging-associated factors, such as a functional decline, psychosocial problems, and cognitive dysfunction. However, the details of the cognitive dysfunction that occur in late-life SSD are still unknown. Objective The aims of this study were to reveal the cognitive profile of patients with late-life SSD and to evaluate how cognitive dysfunction affects disease severity. Methods We compared the cognitive profiles of patients with late-life SSD ( n = 40) with those of normal control subjects ( n = 21). In addition, we divided the patients with late-life SSD into mild-to-moderate ( n = 24) and severe ( n = 16) groups and compared the cognitive profiles of the 3 groups. Results Patients with late-life SSD exhibited a lower Mini-Mental State Examination total score and attention decline. In the 3-group comparison, the severe group had a lower Mini-Mental State Examination score and Frontal Assessment Battery score than the normal control group, whereas no significant difference was seen between the mild-to-moderate and the normal control groups. Conclusions Our data suggest that different cognitive patterns may exist depending on disease severity, possibly indicating differences in pathogenesis.