Cognitive Impairment Among Tunisian Bipolar Patients: a Case-Control Study

Studies exploring the cognitive performance of bipolar patients have mainly been conducted in Western countries. To our knowledge, no surveys have been reported to date in Tunisia. The present work aimed to evaluate the cognitive functions, in the three domains of memory, attention and executive functions, among a sample of Tunisian individuals with bipolar disorder, during the remission period, compared to healthy control subjects. We found that Cognitive functions in euthymic patients with bipolar disorder were significantly more impaired than in controls, apart from the working memory that did not show a significant difference between the two groups. Our findings confirm cognitive deficits associated with bipolar disorder, even at a distance from the symptomatic phases of the disease. Thus, these anomalies may be considered as a trait marker of the disease. A better understanding of cognitive decline certainly allows for better management of psychiatric pathologies, thus improving patients' social skills and quality of life.