J Neuropsychiatry Clin Neurosci 1994; 6:43-49
Copyright © 1994 by American Neuropsychiatric Association
Self-report of symptoms and neuropsychological performance in asymptomatic HIV-positive individuals
S Beason-Hazen, HA Nasrallah and RA Bornstein
Department of Psychiatry, Ohio State University, Columbus 43210.
This study examined the relationship between subjective complaints and
neuropsychological performance in 133 HIV-positive asymptomatic and 80
HIV-negative gay or bisexual men. Presence and duration of self- reported
symptoms were most strongly related to measures of information processing
and reaction time. These relationships remained significant when the effect
of depression was statistically controlled, and no significant
relationships were found between CD4 level and either presence or duration
of symptoms. These data suggest that 1) depression does not completely
account for the relationship between subjective complaints and
neuropsychological performance and 2) early subjective recognition of
symptoms may represent a risk factor for subsequent development of
neurobehavioral abnormalities.
