title: Comparative study of neurocognitive function in euthymic bipolar patients and stabilized schizophrenic patients.
abstract: Few studies have compared neurocognitive performance in euthymic patients with bipolar disorder (BD), stabilized patients with schizophrenia (SC) and normal controls (NC) using a comprehensive neuropsychological battery, and those that have been conducted have yielded discrepant results. We evaluated the neurocognitive profile shown by 73 euthymic patients with BD, 89 stabilized patients with SC and 67 NC. All participants completed a cognitive battery in which the domains evaluated were executive functioning, sustained attention, and verbal and visual memory. Individuals with BD were administered the Quality of Life Scale (QLS). Patients with BD manifested dysfunction in executive functioning (moderate-to-large effect size), sustained attention (moderate effect size) and verbal/visual memory (large effect size) compared with NC. Verbal memory deficit in patients with BD was related to poor functional outcome on the QLS and Global Assessment of Functioning (GAF). Patients with BD performed significantly better than patients with SC on the Trail Making Test (TMT) part B, backward digit span, and California Verbal Learning Test (CVLT) learning trials. Other neuropsychological measures showed no significant differences between the two patient groups. These findings support the notion that euthymic BD patients suffer from an extensive neurocognitive deficit that affects all cognitive domains and is qualitatively similar to that in SC patients. Persistent verbal memory impairment in BD has clinical relevance because it is associated with poor psychosocial function.
authors.affiliation: University General Hospital of Guadalajara, Spain. emsanchez@sescam.jccm.es
authors.forename: Eva María
authors.initials: EM
authors.lastname: Sánchez-Morla
authors.forename: Ana
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Barabash
authors.forename: Vicente
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Martínez-Vizcaíno
authors.forename: Rafael
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Tabarés-Seisdedos
authors.forename: Vicent
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Balanzá-Martínez
authors.forename: José Antonio
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: Cabranes-Díaz
authors.forename: Enrique
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Baca-Baldomero
authors.forename: José Luis Santos
authors.initials: JL
authors.lastname: Gómez
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D001714:Bipolar Disorder / Q000150:complications* / Q000523:psychology*; D016009:Chi-Square Distribution; D003072:Cognition Disorders / Q000209:etiology* / Q000523:psychology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008568:Memory / Q000502:physiology; D008875:Middle Aged; D015999:Multivariate Analysis; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests; D011340:Problem Solving / Q000502:physiology; D011569:Psychiatric Status Rating Scales; D012559:Schizophrenia / Q000150:complications*; D012565:Schizophrenic Psychology; D055815:Young Adult