Theory of mind deficits in patients with esophageal cancer combined with depression.

Aim: To characterize the two components of theory of mind (ToM) in patients with esophageal cancer combined with depression.

Methods: Sixty-five patients with esophageal cancer combined with depression (depressed group) and 62 normal controls (control group) were assessed using reading the mind in the eyes test, faux pas task, verbal fluency test, digit span test and WAIS IQ test. The depressed group was divided into two subgroups including psychotic depressed (PD) group (32 cases) and nonpsychotic depressed (NPD) group (33 cases).