Clinical and neuropsychological characteristics of
euthymic bipolar patients having a history of severe suicide attempt
Abstract : OBJECTIVE:
Identifying bipolar patients at high-suicide risk is a major health
issue. To improve their identification, we compared dimensional and
neuropsychological profile of bipolar patients with or without history
of suicide attempt, taking into account suicidal severity (i.e.
admission to intensive ward).
METHOD:
A total of 343 adult euthymic bipolar out-patients recruited in the
French FondaMental Advanced Centres of Expertise for Bipolar Disorder
were divided into three subgroups: 214 patients without history of
suicide attempt, 88 patients with past history of non-severe suicide
attempt and 41 patients with past history of severe suicide attempt.
General intellectual functioning, speed of information processing,
verbal learning and memory, verbal fluency and executive functioning
were assessed.
RESULTS:
Severe suicide attempters had lower affective intensity and lability
than non-severe attempters. Severe suicide attempters outperformed
non-severe attempters for verbal learning and non-attempters for Stroop
word reading part after adjustment for study centre, age, gender,
educational level, antipsychotics use, depression score, anxious and
addictive comorbidities.
CONCLUSION:
Neuropsychological tasks commonly used to assess bipolar patients do not
seem accurate to identify suicide attempters in euthymic patients. In
the future, decision-making and emotional recognition tasks should be
assessed. Moreover, clinical and neuropsychological profiles should be
considered together to better define suicidal risk.
https://hal.umontpellier.fr/hal-02278036
https://hal.umontpellier.fr/hal-02278036