Cognitive performance in patients with acute phase of bipolar disorder

Česká verzia

Authors: M. Sisrová ^1,2; L. Ustohal ²; I. Zikmundová ³
Authors place of work: Psychologické oddělení Thomayerovy nemocnice, Praha ¹; Psychiatrická klinika LF MU a FN Brno ²; 1. neurologická klinika LF MU a FN u sv. Anny v Brně ³
Published in the journal: Cesk Slov Neurol N 2018; 81(3): 320-329
Category: Original Paper
doi: https://doi.org/10.14735/amcsnn2018320

Summary

Aim:
The aim of this study was to evaluate the cognitive performance of bipolar disorder patients in the acute phase of the illness. The interest was in determining if the cognitive performance would vary, depending on the different acute phase and if the clinical characteristics were related to the clinical course and the cognitive performance level.

Patients and methods:
A total of 53 patients with bipolar disorder, of which 16 were in hypomania, 17 in mania, 20 in depression, and 23 healthy control group subjects were examined by complex neuropsychological assessment tools.

Results:
Patients with bipolar disorder exhibited cognitive impairment in the area of psychomotor speed, attention, verbal memory and, to a lesser extent, in executive functions and visual memory. Bipolar patients compared to the control group showed statistically significantly worse performance in all cognitive tests except the initiation time (TOL tit) (U = 480; p = 0.142). The healthy control group subjects performed all of the tests within normal standards. Comparison of cognitive performances in the different phases, reflected a statistically significant difference in all cognitive tests except for TOL tit (H = 6.464; p = 0.091), where the four groups did not differ statistically. Cognitive performance in acute phases did not show a statistically significant difference in either of the cognitive tests. After taking into account the clinical characteristics, the closest correlation was recorded between the onset of the illness and verbal memory AVLT 1 (r = – 0.452; p < 0.01), AVLT Sum (r = – 0.383; p < 0.01), and AVLT 30 (r = – 0.370; p < 0.01).

Conclusions:
In this study, patients in the acute phase of bipolar disorder showed significantly worse performance in all neuropsychological parameters than the healthy control group subjects. Cognitive impairment was recorded in the domain of psychomotor speed, attention, verbal memory and, to a lesser extent, executive functions and visual memory. Patients in hypomania, mania and depression did not differ significantly in cognitive performance. From the clinical characteristics, only the age of onset of the illness showed the most correlations with cognitive variables.

Key words:
bipolar disorder – cognitive performance – clinical course – neuropsychology

The authors declare they have no potential conflicts of interest concerning drugs, products, or services used in the study.

The Editorial Board declares that the manuscript met the ICMJE “uniform requirements” for biomedical papers.

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