Cognitive remediation for bipolar patients with objective cognitive impairment: a naturalistic study
Veeh J, Kopf J, Kittel-Schneider S, Deckert J, Reif A (2017)
Publication Type: Journal article
Publication year: 2017
Journal
Book Volume: 5
Article Number: 8
Journal Issue: 1
DOI: 10.1186/s40345-017-0079-3
Abstract
Background: Many bipolar patients (BP) are affected by cognitive impairments and reduced psychosocial function even after complete remission. In the present naturalistic study, we developed a tailored cognitive remediation program (CR) to evaluate the effect on objective and subjective neuropsychological performance, psychosocial functioning and quality of life. Methods: The CR program used a cognitive training software combined with group sessions to educate cognitive skills. 102 BP were screened by a neuropsychological test battery. Of those, 39 BP showed distinct cognitive impairments and 26 patients of them participated in the CR program for 12 weeks and then were retested. A matched control group consisting of 10 BP was measured at baseline and follow-up after three months (treatment as usual). Results: Within the training group, a significant improvement of cognitive performance after CR was observed in working memory (p = .043), problem solving (p = .031) and divided attention (trend, p = .065). The control group did not improve in any test measure. In addition, we detected a significant reduction of sub-depressive symptoms (p = .011) after the CR program. However, there was no change in psychosocial functioning and quality of life. Subjective cognitive complaints were not associated with objective test performance. Limitations: As we included exclusively BP with objectively assessed neurocognitive deficits, recruitment was difficult and subsequently we had a small sample size and were not able to implement a randomized group design. Conclusions: Our results suggest that BP with objective cognitive impairments could benefit from CR potentially with regard to executive functioning. Furthermore, there is preliminary evidence that CR could have a positive effect on subthreshold residual symptoms. However, to fully identify the possible implications of CR in bipolar disorder, larger randomized-controlled trials are needed in this new field of research.
Involved external institutions
Goethe-Universität Frankfurt am Main
Germany (DE)
Julius-Maximilians-Universität Würzburg
Germany (DE)
Germany (DE)
Julius-Maximilians-Universität Würzburg
Germany (DE)
How to cite
APA:
Veeh, J., Kopf, J., Kittel-Schneider, S., Deckert, J., & Reif, A. (2017). Cognitive remediation for bipolar patients with objective cognitive impairment: a naturalistic study. International Journal of Bipolar Disorders, 5(1). https://doi.org/10.1186/s40345-017-0079-3
MLA:
Veeh, J., et al. "Cognitive remediation for bipolar patients with objective cognitive impairment: a naturalistic study." International Journal of Bipolar Disorders 5.1 (2017).
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