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Performance of Bipolar Disorder Patients in Attention Testing: Comparison with Normal Controls and Among Manic, Depressive, and Euthymic Phases

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Abstract

Several studies on cognition in bipolar disorder (BD) have been developed on the last decade. Neuropsychological evaluation of attention in BD patients is fundamental since alterations in attention affect other cognitive functions. Evaluate if performance of BD patients in attention tests varies according to each phase of the disease and verify if there are differences in attention when comparing BD patients with normal controls. The study included 101 BD patients, with ages between 18 and 65 years, being 52 euthymic, 22 manic and 27 depressive, besides 30 normal controls. All subjects were evaluated though Hamilton Depression Scale, Young Mania Rating Scale and Global Assessment of Functioning, bipolar version (CGI-BP). Attention was evaluated through a neuropsychological battery. Normal controls had a better performance in selective attention tests than BD patients. No differences were found among manic, depressive and euthymic phases. Attention is markedly impaired in BD. Nevertheless, the results of this study do not imply that the severity of the attention deficit in BD patients varies according to decease phase.

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Conflict of interest

Evelyn V. M. Camelo, Daniel Mograbi, Rafael de Assis da Silva, Jaqueline Bifano, Mayra Wainstok, Luciana Angélica Silva Silveira, Tânia Netto, Cristina M. T. Santana, and Elie Cheniaux declare that they have no conflict of interest.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brazil

    Evelyn V. M. Camelo, Rafael de Assis da Silva, Jaqueline Bifano, Mayra Wainstok, Luciana Angélica Silva Silveira, Tânia Netto, Cristina M. T. Santana & Elie Cheniaux

  2. Universidade do Estado do Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brazil

    Elie Cheniaux

  3. Pontifícia Universidade Católica do Rio de Janeiro (PUC-Rio), Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brazil

    Daniel Mograbi & Cristina M. T. Santana

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  1. Evelyn V. M. Camelo
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Correspondence to Evelyn V. M. Camelo.

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All procedures performed in studies involving human participants were in accordance with the ethical standards of the institutional and/or national research committee and with the 1964 Helsinki declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards.

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Camelo, E.V.M., Mograbi, D., de Assis da Silva, R. et al. Performance of Bipolar Disorder Patients in Attention Testing: Comparison with Normal Controls and Among Manic, Depressive, and Euthymic Phases. Psychiatr Q 88, 55–63 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11126-016-9430-6

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