Psychomotor Vigilance Task indices are correlated with and can predict the Major Depressive Disorder

Background: Accurate assessment of major depressive disorder (MDD) has been a common topic with regard to assessment tools and psychopathology. Currently, popular tools such as the Self-rating Depression Scale (SDS) and other self-report assessments are insufficient, as patients might be incapable of recalling or evaluating themselves. The psychomotor vigilance task (PVT), which can be used for the evaluation of MDD, does not require patients to evaluate themselves, and thus might be a good assessment tool. Method: We selected 93 patients diagnosed with MDD to participate in this study. Each of them was evaluated using the Hamilton Depression Rating Scale (HAMD) scores and PVT indices. One-way analysis of variance ( ) of the depression level and five PVT indices was conducted to examine the association. Linear regression analysis was then conducted between the HAMD scores and PVT indices. Result: We found that certain PVT indices showed a statistically significant relationship with the HAMD and other factor scores. On linear regression analyses, the optimum reaction time (RT) median ( = 0.007) showed a positive relationship with the HAMD scores, whereas the median RT reciprocal ( = 0.039) showed a negative relationship with HAMD. Simultaneously, these two indices showed a significant relationship with some other factor scores. Conclusion: The results of this study demonstrate the usefulness of PVT indices in predicting depression severity. This evidence suggests that PVT could serve as a potential screening tool because it is quick, non-intrusive, and universally adaptable in different clinical scenarios.