Association of different cognitive domains with lifetime history of psychosis and reported antipsychotic-treatment adverse events in bipolar disorders

Aim of the study. The present work aimed to assess the association between cognitive functions, the lifetime occurrence of psychotic symptoms, and reported adverse effects of antipsychotic treatments inpatients with bipolar disorders.Methods. In the present work, 44 bipolar disorder inpatients hospitalized in the Affective Disorders Unit of the Institute of Psychiatry and Neurology in Warsaw, were investigated. All of them met the criteria of remission and were prepared for release from the hospital unit. Twenty-two patients were hospitalized in the manic stage of the illness, and 22 were in the depressive stage of illness. Both groups were assessed using adequate psychiatric rating scales (HDRS or YMRS and CAMRS) and neuropsychological tests (WCST, TMT, Stroop Test and Verbal Fluency Test).Results. Patients who had a prior history of psychotic symptoms had poorer verbal functioning in comparison to subjects without such a history. However, individuals hospitalized in the manic state of disease, and who reported more adverse events after antipsychotic medication during the whole course of illness, had worse results in some parameters of executive function measurements in the WCST test, namely occurring in a greater percentage of nonperseverative errors and a lower number of completed categories.Discussion. Generally the results confirm findings according to which, patients with the history of psychosis performe worse on neurocognitive tasks. However, the nature of dysfunctions found, generates questions about its relations with the experience of psychosis and antipsychotic treatment. Conclusion: Different aspects of cognitive dysfunctions may be related to the experience of psychosis and antipsychotic treatment in patients with bipolar disorders.