Maria Gloria Rossetti1, Cinzia Perlini2, Vera Abbiati3, Carolina Bonivento4, Elisabetta Caletti1, Giuseppe Fanelli5, Mariangela Lanfredi6, Matteo Lazzaretti1, Laura Pedrini6, Sara Piccin7, Stefano Porcelli5, Michela Sala8, Alessandro Serretti5, Marcella Bellani9, Paolo Brambilla10. 1. Department of Neurosciences and Mental Health, Fondazione IRCCS Ca' Granda Ospedale Maggiore Policlinico, Milan, Italy. 2. Department of Neurosciences, Biomedicine and Movement Sciences, Section of Clinical Psychology, University of Verona, Verona, Italy. 3. Department of Brain and Behavioral Sciences, University of Pavia, Pavia, Italy. 4. IRCCS "E. Medea", Polo Friuli Venezia Giulia, San Vito al Tagliamento (PN), Italy. 5. Department of Biomedical and Neuromotor Sciences, University of Bologna, Bologna, Italy. 6. Unit of Psychiatry, IRCCS Istituto Centro San Giovanni di Dio Fatebenefratelli, Brescia, Italy. 7. Unit of Psychiatry, Department of Medicine (DAME), University of Udine, Udine, Italy. 8. Department of Mental Health, Azienda Sanitaria Locale Alessandria, Alessandria, Italy. 9. Department of Neurosciences, Biomedicine and Movement Sciences, Section of Psychiatry, University of Verona, Verona, Italy. Electronic address: marcella.bellani@univr.it. 10. Department of Neurosciences and Mental Health, Fondazione IRCCS Ca' Granda Ospedale Maggiore Policlinico, Milan, Italy; Department of Pathophysiology and Transplantation, University of Milan, Milan, Italy.
Abstract
OBJECTIVES: Cognitive deficits in Bipolar Disorder (BD) are significant enough to have an impact on daily functioning. Therefore, appropriate tools must be used to improve our understanding of the nature and severity of cognitive deficits in BD. In this study, we aimed to compare the cognitive profiles of patients with BD and healthy controls (HC) applying the Italian version of the Brief Assessment of Cognition in Affective Disorders (BAC-A). METHODS: This cross-sectional study included 127 patients with BD and 134 HC. The participants' cognitive profiles were evaluated using the Italian version of the BAC-A, which assesses verbal memory, working memory, motor speed, verbal fluency, attention & processing speed, executive functions, and two new measures of affective processing. The BAC-A raw scores were corrected using the normative data for the Italian population. In addition, we explored whether intelligence quotient (IQ) and specific clinical variables would predict the BAC-A affective, non-affective, and total composite scores of patients with BD and HC. RESULTS: HC performed better than patients with BD in all BAC-A subtests (all p < .001), except for subtests of the Affective Interference Test. (p ≥ .05). The effect sizes varied in magnitude and ranged between d = 0.02 and d = 1.27. In patients with BD, lower BAC-A composite scores were predicted by a higher number of hospitalizations. There was a significant association between IQ and BAC-A composite scores in both bipolar patients and HC. CONCLUSIONS: The Italian BAC-A is sensitive to the cognitive impairments of patients with BD in both affective and non-affective cognitive domains.
OBJECTIVES: Cognitive deficits in Bipolar Disorder (BD) are significant enough to have an impact on daily functioning. Therefore, appropriate tools must be used to improve our understanding of the nature and severity of cognitive deficits in BD. In this study, we aimed to compare the cognitive profiles of patients with BD and healthy controls (HC) applying the Italian version of the Brief Assessment of Cognition in Affective Disorders (BAC-A). METHODS: This cross-sectional study included 127 patients with BD and 134 HC. The participants' cognitive profiles were evaluated using the Italian version of the BAC-A, which assesses verbal memory, working memory, motor speed, verbal fluency, attention & processing speed, executive functions, and two new measures of affective processing. The BAC-A raw scores were corrected using the normative data for the Italian population. In addition, we explored whether intelligence quotient (IQ) and specific clinical variables would predict the BAC-A affective, non-affective, and total composite scores of patients with BD and HC. RESULTS: HC performed better than patients with BD in all BAC-A subtests (all p < .001), except for subtests of the Affective Interference Test. (p ≥ .05). The effect sizes varied in magnitude and ranged between d = 0.02 and d = 1.27. In patients with BD, lower BAC-A composite scores were predicted by a higher number of hospitalizations. There was a significant association between IQ and BAC-A composite scores in both bipolar patients and HC. CONCLUSIONS: The Italian BAC-A is sensitive to the cognitive impairments of patients with BD in both affective and non-affective cognitive domains.