What role does depression play on the performance of the Ruff 2 and 7 Selective Attention Test?

Depression is frequently a comorbid symptom in patients suffering from neurological or psychiatric illnesses, and this presents a challenge for the differential diagnosis of neuropsychological functioning, especially in the assessment of concentration. The 2 & 7 test was administered to 27 patients with major depression without other neurological or psychiatric illnesses. The average percentile rankings fell within the unimpaired range, with 42.7% for speed, 36.3% for accuracy, and 44.9% for processing. Only three patients were significantly slowed in performance speed, of whom two also showed deficient motor speed on eye-hand coordination performances. None demonstrated deficient accuracy rates, yet four patients were impaired in parallel processing. Thus, major depression did not for the majority of these patients impair 2 & 7 test performance, particularly if no concurrent motor slowing was present. Four guidelines for differential diagnosis are discussed.