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Medication Management Capacity and Its Neurocognitive Correlates in Huntington's Disease

Catherine A Sumida1, Emily J Van Etten2, Francesca V Lopez3

  • 1Department of Psychology, Washington State University, Pullman, WA, USA.

Archives of Clinical Neuropsychology : the Official Journal of the National Academy of Neuropsychologists
|December 6, 2018
PubMed

Insights

Individuals with Huntington's disease (HD) struggle with daily medication management tasks, showing deficits linked to cognitive impairments like prospective memory and executive functions.

Area of Science:

  • Neuroscience
  • Neurology
  • Cognitive Science

Background:

  • Medication management is crucial for individuals with Huntington's disease (HD).
  • Previous research has not extensively evaluated medication management abilities in HD.
  • The relationship between cognitive function and medication management in HD remains unclear.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To assess medication management abilities in individuals with HD.
  • To investigate the relationship between cognitive functioning and medication management in HD.

Main Methods:

  • Twenty individuals with HD and 20 healthy adults (HA) participated.
  • The Medication Management Abilities Assessment (MMAA) was administered to all participants.
  • Individuals with HD also completed self-report measures and neuropsychological tests for executive function, retrospective memory, and prospective memory.

Main Results:

  • Individuals with HD demonstrated significantly poorer performance and made more undertaking errors on the MMAA compared to HA.
  • No significant differences were observed in overtaking errors between the groups.
  • In the HD group, undertaking errors correlated with perceived medication management ability.
  • MMAA performance was associated with prospective memory and executive function measures.

Conclusions:

  • Medication management capacity is impaired in individuals with HD.
  • Difficulties in medication management may be linked to prospective memory deficits, affecting future medication adherence.
Abstract

Keywords:
Everyday functioningExecutive functioningHuntington’s diseaseLearning and memory

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