Neuropsychological functions impairment in different subtypes of bipolar disorder with or without comorbid anxiety disorders

Bipolar disorder (BP) patients with comorbid anxiety disorders (ADs) showed more severe clinical characteristics and psychosocial function impairment, worse response to treatment, and more substance use than those without AD. However, few studies focus on differences in neuropsychological function between BP-I and BP-II and patients with and without AD. Seventy-nine BP patients in their interepisode state classified into four groups-BP-I without AD (BP-I−AD) (n=22), BP-I with AD (BP-I+AD) (n=20), BP-II without AD (BP-II−AD) (n=18), BP-II with AD (BP-II+AD) (n=19), and healthy controls (HC) (n=30)-were given neuropsychological tests. BP-I+AD patients did less well than BP-I−AD patients, but only in working memory. BP-II+AD patients did less well than the BP-II−AD patients in visual immediate memory, visual delayed memory, working memory, and psychomotor speed. BP-I+AD has limited effects on neuropsychological performance. However, significant effects were found only in BP-II+AD patients compared with BPII−AD patients. We hypothesized that comorbid AD worsens neuropsychological performance more in BP-II than in BP-I patients.