Subjective complaints compared to the results of neuropsychological assessment in patients with epilepsy: The influence of comorbid depression.

The aim of the study was to compare subjective complaints of epilepsy patients with objective results of neuropsychological assessment and to investigate the possible influence of depression on self-reported complaints. 62 patients from the neurology clinic were included in the study. They were asked to fill the subjective complaints questionnaire, Beck Depression Inventory and a series of neuropsychological tests. The results indicated that self-reported cognitive complaints are not strongly associated with objective tests of different cognitive performance measures. We conclude that the discrepancy between subjective and objective cognitive functioning does not only affect the area of memory but a wide range of cognitive domains. Depression is an important factor influencing the level of different subjective complaints.