The correlates of community functioning in patients with bipolar disorder

Background: Although bipolar disorder is associated with substantial levels of disability, efforts to investigate the correlates of impairment have been meagre. Methods: Sixty-one euthymic patients with a diagnosis of bipolar disorder were administered a variety of quality of life measures, including a measure of community functioning entitled the Occupational Performance Questionnaire (OPQ). This measure included a Community Functioning Scale (CFS) that provides a rating of adaptive level of functioning that was compared with other clinical and functional indices. Results: The OPQ was found responsive to the assessment of community functioning among euthymic patients, as about one third of the patients did not meet the criteria for adequate level of community functioning. Moreover, a positive history for alcoholism or alcohol abuse and reported current levels of high anxiety were associated with the impairment in community functioning. Limitations: This study relied on self-report data derived from a measure of community functioning developed specifically for this study. Conclusion: Despite the preliminary nature of these findings, further investigation of the functional impairments associated with bipolar disorder is needed.