Sex matters: Differences in prodromes, clinical and neuropsychological features in individuals with a first episode mania or psychosis

Objective: This study was aimed at identifying sex differences in patients presenting a first episode mania (FEM) or psychosis (FEP) to help shaping early treatment strategies focused on sex differences. Methods: Patients with a FEM or FEP underwent a clinical, neuropsychological (neurocognitive fun...

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Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores: Palacios-Garran, Roberto, Amoretti Guadall, Silvia, Serra Navarro, Maria, Torrent Font, Carla, Garriga, Marina, Fares Otero, Natalia Elena, Sagué-Vilavella, Maria, Madero Gómez, Santiago, Forte, Maria Florencia, Montejo Egido, Laura, Salgado Pineda, Pilar, Montoro Salvatierra, Irene, Sánchez Gistau, Vanessa, Pomarol-Clotet, Edith, Menculini, Giulia, Tortorella, Alfonso, Pacchiarotti, Isabella, García Rizo, Clemente, Ramos-Quiroga, Josep Antoni, Martínez-Arán, Anabel, 1971-, Vieta i Pascual, Eduard, 1963-, Verdolini, Norma
Tipo de recurso: artículo
Estado:Versión publicada
Fecha de publicación:2025
País:España
Institución:Universidad de Barcelona
Repositorio:Dipòsit Digital de la UB
OAI Identifier:oai:diposit.ub.edu:2445/221117
Acceso en línea:https://hdl.handle.net/2445/221117
Access Level:acceso abierto
Palabra clave:Trastorn bipolar
Diferències entre sexes
Psicosi
Neuropsicologia
Símptomes
Manic-depressive illness
Sex differences
Psychoses
Neuropsychology
Symptoms
Descripción
Sumario:Objective: This study was aimed at identifying sex differences in patients presenting a first episode mania (FEM) or psychosis (FEP) to help shaping early treatment strategies focused on sex differences. Methods: Patients with a FEM or FEP underwent a clinical, neuropsychological (neurocognitive functions and emotional intelligence) and functional assessment. Performance on those variables was compared between groups through general linear model, with sex and group (FEM vs FEP) as main effects and group by sex interactions. Results: The total sample included 113 patients: FEM=72 (45.83% females) and FEP=41 (46.34% females). There were significant main effects for group (not for sex) for most of the clinical features (depressive, negative and positive symptoms) and psychosocial functioning (χ²=8.815, p=0.003). As for neuropsychological performance, there were significant main effects for sex and group. Females performed better than males in verbal memory (χ²=9.038, p=0.003) and obtained a higher emotional intelligence quotient (χ²=13.20, p<0.001). On the contrary, males obtained better results in working memory (χ²=7.627, p=0.006). FEP patients significantly underperformed FEM patients in most cognitive domains. There were significant group by sex interactions for few neuropsychological variables, namely processing speed (χ²=4.559, p=0.033) and verbal fluency (χ²=8.913, p=0.003). Limitations: Differences between sexes were evaluated, but the influence of gender was not considered. Retrospective evaluation of prodromes and substance use. No healthy control group comparator. Conclusion: The main finding is the presence of significant sex effect and group by sex interaction on specific neurocognitive cognition and emotional intelligence measures. Tailored sex-based early treatment strategies might be implemented.