Objective: The aim of the present study is to characterize social cognition deficits in patients of Huntington’s disease (HD) from China and to assess associated factors.

Background: Huntington’s disease has been associated with deficits in social cognition. However, little is known about which domains of social cognition are predominantly affected and associated factors.

Method:

Thirty-seven gene-confirmed manifest HD patients and 27 age-, sex- and education-matched healthy controls (HC) were examined by Geneva Social Cognition Scale (GeSoCS). Genetic data and clinical characteristics including motor symptoms, neuropsychiatric symptoms and global cognitive function were also collected in HD patients.

Results:

The mean GeSoCS score was lower in the HD patients compared to the HCs (61.11±20.43 vs. 81.31±7.36, p<0.0001) and differentiated patients and controls in all subtests. With the cutoff value of 72, the scale had a sensitivity of 65% and specificity of 93%, with the area of 0.82 under the curve. The total GeSoCS score was correlated with disease duration, disease stage, total motor score, global cognition and Unified Huntington’s Disease Rating Scale (UHDRS)-cognition scores (p<0.05). Male sex, younger age, and better motor function predicted better social cognition.

Conclusion: The impairment in Chinese HD patients was shown in high order, verbal/discourse, affective social cognition tasks, dependent of severity of motor symptoms, while independent of global cognitive performance, disease duration and behavioral symptoms.

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MDS Abstracts - https://www.mdsabstracts.org/abstract/characterization-of-social-cognition-impairment-in-huntingtons-disease/