Motor Aptitude and Attention in Pacients with Mental Disorders

Abstract

An important part of the patients are affected with Mental Disorder associate with the cognitive alterations and its exercises an influence in the patient's daily routine.

This field study, a descriptive diagnostic encompassing the case and had as objective to evaluate the cognitive aspects: motor aptitude and attention.

The sample was the intentional kind, composed of female patients with diagnosis of Mental Disorder (major depressive disorder and bipolar disorder) according to DSM IV, in depressive condition, from 22 to 55 years old, interned in a psychiatric hospital.

For the evaluation of the motor aptitude it was used the Motor Aptitude Rank for the Elderly (Escala Motora para a Terceira Idade - EMTI - Pink Grandson, 2002) adapted that evaluates the general and specific motor aptitude: Specific Motricity, Global Motricity, Balance, Corporal Design, Space Organization, Shedule Organization. It was used the TMT (Trail Making Test - parts A and B - neuropsychological battery Halstead-Reitan) to evaluate the attention (Reitan, 1958).

The data had been organized and analyzed through descriptive statistics and correlation analysis.

Results:

General Motor Aptitude (GMA) was classified as Normal Low; Global Motricity, Balance, Corporal Design, Space Organization and Schedule Organization had low output; the worse execution in the TMT indicating attention deficit disorder; the increasing of the time in the execution of the TMT proportional to the increase of the age; a negative value of the correlation of the GMA and the attention, a bigger slowness in the execution of the TMT tests shows minors values of GMA.