Retardation in depression: assessment by means of simple motor tasks

Background: psychomotor retardation in depression has mostly been assessed with tasks requiring both cognitive and motor processes. This study tested whether retardation could be measured if the cognitive demands of the task were minimal. Methods: 30 inpatients with a major depressive episode were c ompared one week after the start of antidepressant treatment, to 30 healthy control persons, matched for age, sex and educational level. Tests consist ed of ten simple drawing tasks. The kinematics of drawing movements were re corded using a specially designed pen, a graphics tablet and a personal com puter. Results: patients showed marked motor slowing on all the tasks: long er movement durations, longer pauses and lower velocities. Conclusions: psy chomotor retardation in depressed patients treated with antidepressants occ urs during drawing tasks, in which the cognitive demands are minimal and le ss than those required in the figure copying tasks used in our previous stu dies. Limitations: the use of co-medication can have influenced the results , although no correlations were found between the use of medication and the kinematic variables. Clinical relevance: detailed registration and analysi s of drawing movements enable a more precise diagnosis of psychomotor distu rbances in depressed patients. (C) 1999 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights re served.