| Background - Prospective memory (PM), defined as the memory for undertaking activities in the future, is a relatively new construct. To date, only a few studies have reported impaired PM in schizophrenia. However, there is a dearth of studies on PM in bipolar disorder (BAD), and the functional implications of PM impairment have yet to be investigated in these patient groups.;Aims - This study applied the Chinese version of the Cambridge Prospective Memory Test (C-CAMPROMPT), a standardized psychometric test, to compare PM performance and its associated factors in schizophrenia and BAD patients and normal controls. In addition, the study explored the functional significance of PM in these two cohorts of patients.;Method - The sample for comparison of PM performance and its associated factors comprised 44 clinically stable schizophrenia and BAD patients each and 44 normal controls. To determine the functional significance of PM in patients, the BAD group was extended to 76 to increase the statistical power of the study. All subjects' socio-demographic characteristics, PM, retrospective memory (RM), and Intelligence quotient (IQ) were measured, and the patients' clinical condition and level of community living skills (CLS) were also rated with standardized assessment instruments. Statistical analyses included analysis of variance (ANOVA), analysis of covariance (ANCOVA), correlational analyses, and multiple linear regression analyses.;Results - Both patient groups performed significantly worse than the normal controls on the C-CAMPROMPT. The schizophrenia patients performed significantly worse than the BAD patients in the event-based subscale of the C-CAMPROMPT. PM impairment was associated with IQ, RM, and education in schizophrenia and with depressive symptoms, RM, and age in BAD. CLS predicted PM performance in both patient groups after controlling for the potentially confounding effects of sex, age, education, RM, IQ, and psychiatric symptoms.;Conclusion - This study was the first to administer the C-CAMPROMPT, a standardized psychometric test, to assess PM in schizophrenia and BAD. Its results confirm the presence of PM impairment in both major psychoses. The functional impact of PM has important clinical implications for psychiatric practice. |
