Bipolar disorder and schizophrenia share a similar deficit in semantic inhibition: A meta-analysis based on Hayling Sentence Completion Test performance

Bipolar disorder (BD) is associated with deficits in executive function similar to that found in schizophrenia (SZ). However, very few studies have examined whether a specific component of executive function, namely, semantic inhibition, is differentially impaired in BD and SZ. The present study reports the results of a meta-analysis of performance on a theory-driven test of semantic inhibition, namely, the Hayling Sentence Completion Test (HSCT), in patients with BD and SZ, and to examine differential group impairments. The Comprehensive Meta-Analysis Software package was used to calculate the mean effect sizes for group differences on different measures of HSCT. A total of 13 studies were included in the meta-analysis. Effect sizes for six HSCT measures were calculated. These included: Total Latency of Task A, Total Latency of Task B, Suppression Time, Total Error of Task B, Type A Error of Task B, and Type B Error of Task B. When compared with healthy controls, medium-to-large effect sizes were observed in both groups for each HSCT measure. Interestingly, the effect sizes for BD and SZ groups were comparable. These results suggest that patients with SZ and patients with BD are impaired in both task initiation and task inhibition of executive function and these impairments are similar in magnitude for both disorders.