Neuropsychological performance in euthymic bipolar disorder with and without suicide attempts: a comparative study...

To compare the neuropsychological performance of euthymic bipolar patients with (CIS) and without suicide attempts (SIS), relative to healthy controls (HC).

This cross-sectional study included 31 patients (CIS n=15; SIS n=16) and 46 independent HC. The battery comprised RAVLT, Rey Complex Figure, WAIS-III Digit Span, TMT-A/B, WCST, Stroop, and COWAT-FAS. CIS–SIS comparisons were conducted with Student’s t tests; CIS/SIS vs HC with Welch’s t tests; two-tailed p values uncorrected for multiplicity.

CIS and SIS showed broadly similar performance in episodic memory, forward working memory, Stroop, and verbal fluency; the only significant between-patient difference was a lower number of WCST categories in CIS. Compared with HC, both groups performed worse on verbal memory (RAVLT) and showed slowing on TMT-B. However, a differential pattern emerged: CIS displayed additional deficits in TMT-A and backward digits, whereas SIS did not differ from HC in these tests. Overall, CIS showed significant impairment relative to HC in three of four measures (RAVLT, TMT-A, and backward digits), while SIS differed in two (RAVLT and TMT-B).

Direct CIS–SIS differences were modest (only WCST categories), but contrasts with controls revealed partially distinct profiles. The findings suggest that deficits in processing speed and working memory may be more pronounced in patients with a history of suicide attempts. These results should be interpreted as exploratory, and replication in larger samples and longitudinal designs is warranted.