NEUROCOGNITIVE AND EMOTIONAL FUNCTIONING IN LUNG-TRANSPLANT CANDIDATES - A PRELIMINARY-STUDY

This study reports descriptive data on the neurocognitive and emotiona l functioning of a clinical series of 39 lung transplant candidates. R esults found this group to be of average intelligence, with average si mple attention and concentration. Candidates displayed mild to moderat e psychomotor slowing, moderate dysnomia, and mild verbal memory and l earning deficits. Relative to available normative data, 39% of the pat ients demonstrated performance deficits at or below three standard dev iations from the mean on two or more neurocognitive test variables. Cl uster analysis of MMPIs identified three groups Cluster I consisted of 26% of the sample, with significant elevations on scales 1, 2, 3, 4, 7, and 8 suggestive of clinically significant levels of emotional dist ress; Cluster 2 consisted of 39% of the sample, with significant eleva tions on scales 1, 2, and 3 suggestive of moderate somatic concerns an d mild emotional disruption; Cluster 3 consisted of 35% of the sample, with no significant MMPI scale elevations. Nearly one-third of the sa mple obtained MMPI F-K scores suggestive of a ''fake-good'' response s et. Neurocognitive test performance and MMPI scales were only minimall y related, suggesting that emotional disruption cannot be used as an e xplanation for neurocognitive deficits in this sample.