Assessment of insight in hospitalized neurological patient: Cognitive profile and mood disorder

Purpose:Many studies have evaluated the characteristics of insight, especially in psychiatric patient pop-ulations. However, this construct has been poorly examined within neurological disorders. We exploredthe relationship between altered insight, mood disorders and neurocognitive functioning in a sample ofpatients admitted to a neurological rehabilitation unit.Method:Each patient, at the time of hospitalization (T0), underwent an evaluation of the overall cogni-tive profile, of the frontal functions, and the compilation of scales aimed at investigating the 4 domainsunder examination of insight and anxiety-depressive symptomatology. After 3 months (T1), at the end ofthe rehabilitative and supportive treatment, the patients underwent the same evaluation performed atT0.Results:Our results showed significant differences between T0 and T1 in the variables examined relatedto insight. In particular, there was a correlation between the global cognitive profile, including executivefunctions, and all insight domains. This confirms how the degree of cognitive deficit, especially of exec-utive type, affects all levels of awareness of the individual.We have also found correlations between mood disorders and insight. In particular, our results showthat depression versus anxiety plays a fundamental role in a person’s awareness.Conclusions:The study of insight is fundamental not only for the relapses it could have on the patient, butalso on those to health care professionals. In fact, having an adequate insight could lead to a greater moti-vation of the patient to be more complimentary to pharmacological and rehabilitative therapies, alsofavoring social reintegration.