The impact of a history of psychotic symptoms on cognitive function in euthymic bipolar patients: a comparison with schizophrenic patients and healthy controls O impacto da história de sintomas psicóticos na função cognitiva de doentes bipolares eutímicos: comparação com doentes esquizofrênicos e controles saudáveis

• Published in: Revista brasileira de psiquiatria 2011-12, Vol.33 (4), p.353-361
• Main Authors: Sofia Brissos, Vasco Videira Dias, Márcio Gerhardt Soeiro-de-Souza, Vicent Balanzá-Martínez, Flavio Kapczinski
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Bipolar disorder; Esquizofrenia; Manifestações neurocomportamentais; Neurobehavioral manifestations; Pacientes; Patients; Psychotic disorders; Schizophrenia; Transtorno bipolar; Transtornos psicóticos
• ISSN: 1516-4446; 1809-452X
• DOI: 10.1590/S1516-44462011000400008

BACKGROUND: About two-thirds of patients with bipolar disorder (BD) have a lifetime history of at least one psychotic symptom. Objective: To compare the neurocognitive performance of four groups: BD patients with and without a history of psychotic symptoms (BD HPS+ and BD HPS-, respectively); patients with schizophrenia (SZ); and healthy control (HC) subjects. METHOD: In this cross-sectional study, 35 stabilized patients with SZ, 79 euthymic (44 HPS+ and 35 HPS-) patients with BD, and 50 HC were administered a comprehensive battery of neuropsychological tests. RESULTS: There was worse neurocognitive functioning in both BD and SZ patients compared to HC. Overall, data from both groups of BD patients did not differ on sociodemographic, clinical, or neurocognitive variables. However, BD HPS+ patients had significantly more negative symptoms, as measured by the Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale (PANSS), and showed a trend toward worse performance on executive functions compared to BD HPS- patients. Moreover, both BD groups had better performance on all neurocognitive tests compared to SZ group. CONCLUSIONS: Neurocognitive dysfunction may be more marked in SZ than in BD, yet qualitatively similar. A history of past psychotic symptoms in BD was not associated with more severe cognitive impairment during euthymia. Therefore, BD with psychotic symptoms does not appear to be a distinct neurocognitive phenotype.INTRODUÇÃO: Cerca de dois terços dos pacientes com Transtorno Bipolar (TB) apresentam sintomas psicóticos ao longo da vida. OBJETIVO: Comparar o desempenho neurocognitivo de quatro grupos: pacientes com TB, com e sem histórico de sintomas psicóticos (HPS+ ou HPS-, respectivamente); pacientes esquizofrénicos; e grupo controle (GC) com indivíduos saudáveis. MÉTODOS: Estudo transversal no qual 35 pacientes com esquizofrenia (EZ), 79 pacientes com TB na fase eutímica (44 HPS+ e 35 HPS-) e 50 GC foram submetidos a extensa avaliação neuropsicológica. RESULTADOS: Observou-se pior funcionamento neurocognitivo em pacientes com TB e com EZ quando comparados ao GC. Os dois grupos de pacientes TB não diferiram em dados demográficos, clínicos ou variáveis neurocognitivas. Entretanto o grupo HPS+ teve mais sintomas negativos mensurados pela Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale (PANSS) e apresentou uma tendência a pior performance nas funções executivas comparativamente aos pacientes HPS-. Além disso ambos os grupos de pacientes TB tiveram melhor desempenho em todos test