Cognitive rehabilitation of attention and working memory in patients with chronic bipolar disorder using RehaCom software

Abstract

Background: Chronic bipolar disorder (CBD) impairs cognition, leads to depression, and deteriorates patients' quality of life. This study assessed the usefulness of RehaCom cognitive rehabilitation software on attention and working memory functions in patients with CBD. Materials and methods: This was a pre-test, post-test, quasi-experimental study. In this study, 50 patients with CBD at Mahan Rehabilitation Center, Tehran, Iran were selected using purposive sampling technique and were randomly divided into the control and intervention group. Both groups were pre-tested using Beck Depression Inventory, SDMT, PASAT, and n-BACK tests. The intervention group received 10 sessions (45 min each) of RehaCom software intervention. The participants in the control group were waiting-list controls. Data analyzed using descriptive statistics and multivariate analysis of covariance. Significance level was set at 0.05. Results: Cognitive rehabilitation by RehaCom software improved attention (F = 13.92, P = 0.006,  2 = 0.53) and working memory (F = 43.58, P = 0.002,  2 = 0.77) as compared to the control group. Conclusion: The results showed that cognitive rehabilitation program by RehaCom software can be used to improve attention function and working memory in patients with chronic bipolar disorder. Therefore, in order to use the software to improve cognitive functions, it is suggested that more detailed studies be conducted on a larger number of these types of patients.