Abstract
BackgroundBipolar disorder is associated with significant functional deficits including occupational functioning. Despite the high rates of unemployment and sick leave in the patient population, only a limited number of studies have examined factors associated with occupational functioning in bipolar disorder. The aim of the study was to investigate the relative importance of demographic, clinical, and neuropsychological factors on occupational dysfunction in bipolar disorder.MethodsA sample of 120 partially or fully remitted bipolar disorder I and II patients were included in the study. Patients were stratified into an active and an inactive group based on the number of hours per week working or studying. Active (n = 86) and inactive (n = 34) patients were compared with respect to demographic factors, clinical characteristics, medication, measures of psychosocial functioning, and cognitive functioning (i.e., IQ and executive functions). No other cognitive domains were examined.ResultsUnivariate analyses revealed better overall cognitive function in active patients in terms of IQ and executive functioning. However, only executive functioning accounted for a significant amount of the variance in occupational status when other significant predictors were taken into account.ConclusionsExecutive functioning was a more powerful predictor of occupational status in bipolar disorder patients than IQ and other clinical factors, including illness severity.
Highlights
Bipolar disorder is associated with significant functional deficits including occupational functioning
No other group differences were observed with respect to comorbid conditions, bipolar subtype, age at illness onset, subsyndromal symptomatology, number of previous depressive or manic episodes, or bipolar disorder severity as rated with Clinical Global Impression (CGI)
We found that executive functioning was a stronger determinant of occupational functioning than general cognitive functioning (IQ) and other important clinical factors, including illness severity
Summary
Bipolar disorder is associated with significant functional deficits including occupational functioning. (Depp et al 2012), educational attainment (Reed et al 2010), age at onset (Perlis et al 2009), history of psychotic symptoms (Tohen et al 1990, 2000), and comorbid psychiatric conditions such as panic disorder and substance abuse (Hajek et al 2005; Zimmerman et al 2010) Cognitive performance is another domain that has been linked to poor occupational functioning (Mur et al 2009; Gilbert and Marwaha 2013; Ryan et al 2013; Bonnín et al 2014). Bipolar disorder patients feature cognitive impairments (mainly deficits in attention, verbal memory, and executive functioning) on group level that persist during euthymia (Robinson et al 2006; Mur et al 2007; Palsson et al 2013; Sparding et al 2015a, b; Salarvan et al 2019)
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call
