Neuropsychological features in post-stroke cognitive impairment with no dementia patients with different Traditional Chinese Medicine syndromes.

OBJECTIVE

To investigate neuropsychological features of post-stroke cognitive impairment with no dementia (PSCIND) patients with different Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) syndromes.

METHODS

We recruited 50 patients with PSCIND between April 2012 and March 2013. Patients were divided into different groups according to TCM classifications. Patients were assessed using neuropsychological tests, including cognitive screening (mini-mental state examination), memory testing (auditory verbal learning test), executive/attention [shape trails test, stroop color-word test (SCWT), reading the mind in the eyes test, the digit ordering test-A (DOT-A), and symbol digit modalities test], language (action naming test, Boston naming test, famous face test, similarity test, and verbal fluency test), and visuospatial functioning [complex figure test (CFT)].

RESULTS

We found no significant differences between patients with and without a diagnosis of turbid phlegm blocking the upper orifices on neuropsychological test performance. Patients diagnosed with upper hyperactivity of liver Yang syndrome scored significantly lower on the SCWT-C executive test and the CFT-delayed recall memory test. Patients with excess syndrome scored significantly lower on the SCWT-C executive test, and significantly higher on the DOT-A executive test.

CONCLUSION

Neuropsychological characteristics differ between PSCIND patients with different TCM classifications.