The impairment of executive functions is one of the most robust deficits in depressive disorder. However, very few tools have been designed to assess briefly and specific executive functions in depression. This study aims to assess executive functions in patients with depression, examine the relationship between depression severity and performance of executive functioning, and verify the sensitivity and specificity of INECO Frontal Screening (IFS) compared with the Behavioural Assessment of Dysexecutive Syndrome (BADS) in the assessment of executive functions in patients with depression. 50 participants with depression (mean age = 43.46, SD = 10.71) and 35 participants in the control group (mean age = 40.91, SD = 10.46), of both genders, were evaluated by the IFS and the BADS. Participants with depression showed an executive functioning deficit compared to the control group in both the IFS and the BADS and the increasing severity of depression was accompanied by a greater impairment in executive functioning. IFS proved as sensitive and specific as the BADS in the detection of executive dysfunction in patients with depression. This study suggests that IFS is a brief, sensitive and specific tool to assess executive functions in depression.
depression; executive functions; INECO Frontal Screening; neuropsychology
