Table 3.

Characteristics of studies regarding the association of cognitive function with depression

Authors, date	Purpose	Study design/ sampling	Sample size (n)/sample characteristics	Procedures and instruments	Key findings
Cimprich, 1992	To examine attention following surgery for breast cancer	Cross-sectional/ convenience sampling	n=32 Female, stage I or II, underwent surgery for breast cancer	Assessed attention and depression day before discharge from hospital following breast cancer surgery Attention  Objective measures: DSF, DSB, SDMT, alphabet backward, letter cancellation  Self-report: AFI Depression  Self-report: VAMS	Depression was significantly correlated with attention assessed by AFI No significant relationship between depression and attention measured by objective measures
Freeman and Broshek, 2002	To introduce each neuropsychological test and assess cognitive function in relation to emotional functioning in breast cancer patients	Cross-sectional/ convenience sampling	n=17 Female, diagnosed with breast cancer In active treatment (n=8) Posttreatment (n=9)	Cognitive function  Objective measures: COWAT, HVLT, PASAT, RBANS, Stroop C-W  Self-report: Rating cognitive function on a scale of 0-10 sDepression  Self-report: CES-D	Significant inverse relationship between self-rated cognitive function and depression Significant inverse relationship between depression and visual attention measured by Stroop test No relationship between depression and other objective measures
Vearncombe et al., 2009	To assess whether decline in cognitive function is associated with health, treatment and psychological variables	Longitudinal/ convenience sampling	n=159 Female, early stage of breast cancer Undergoing chemotherapy (n=138) No chemotherapy (n=21)	Assessed cognitive function and psychological status before (T0) and 4 months after (T2) chemotherapy Cognitive function  Objective measures: AVLT, WMS-III, WAIS-III, SDMT, DKEFS  Self-report: Test of everyday attention Anxiety and depression  Self-report: HADS	Association between changes in executive function (T2-T1) and baseline depression
Alcalar et al., 2012	To examine correlation between depression with coping styles and cognitive errors in breast cancer patients who have completed chemotherapy	Cross-sectional/ convenience sampling	n=110 Female, surgery at least 6 months ago, Completed adjuvant chemotherapy Low depression (n=76) High depression (n=34)	Categorized into two groups (depression vs. nondepression) and was assessed cognitive errors, coping styles, and automatic thought process Depression  Self-report: BDI Cognitive errors  Self-report: CEQ	Relationship between depression and cognitive errors among breast cancer patients

DSF: Digital Span Forward, DSB: Digital Span Backward, SDMT: Symbol Digit Modalities Test, AFI: Attentional Function Index, VAMS: Visual Analog Mood States, COWAT: Controlled Oral Word Association Test, HVLT: Hopkins Verbal Learning Test, PASAT: Paced Auditory Serial-Addition Task, RBANS: Repeatable Battery for the Assessment of Neuropsychological Status, Stroop C-W: Stroop Interference Trial, CES-D: Center for epidemiological studies depression inventory, AVLT: Auditory verbal learning test, WMS-III: Wechsler Memory Scale, WAIS-III: Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale, SDMT: Symbol digit modalities test, DKEFS: Delis-Kaplan Executive Function Scale, HADS: Hospital Anxiety And Depression Scale, BDI: Beck’s Depression Index, CEQ: Cognitive Error Questionnaire