B – 51 Depression and Stress are Associated with Symbol Digit Modalities Test Performance in a Geriatric Population with Traumatic Brain Injury

Abstract Objective We examined if an association existed between mood and Symbol Digit Modalities Test (SDMT) performances and across 30-second interval trials in a geriatric sample with and without traumatic brain injury (TBI). Method Thirty-four geriatric participants were divided into two groups: participants with TBI and healthy comparison (HC). Every participant completed both SDMT tasks (i.e., written & oral) and the Depression, Anxiety, Stress Scale to measure mood. Spearman’s Rho correlations analysis was conducted to examine associations between mood and SDMT performances and across 30-second interval trials for each SDMT task. Results We found TBI participants’ depression and stress scores significantly positively correlated with both SDMT performances and several 30-second interval trial performances on both SDMT tasks (r’s= .53 to .75, p’s < .05). Meanwhile, HC participants’ depression and anxiety scores significantly negatively correlated with SDMT oral performance and several 30-second interval trial performances on both SDMT tasks (r’s= -.63 to -.50, p’s < .05). Conclusion Several mood traits were found to be associated with SDMT performances in our TBI sample. Suggesting higher levels of mood enhances processing speed abilities. Further exploration is needed to examine potential contributing factors to processing speed abilities in a geriatric TBI population. It can serve and improve neuropsychological evaluations for geriatric individuals with and without TBI.