[Clinical and cognitive predictors of psychosocial functioning during the euthymic period in bipolar disorder type II]. | Semantic Scholar (2024)

The findings suggest that clinical variables had a greater effect on functioning than MS in BD patients, and there were significant correlations between the level of functioning subscales and the number of depressive episodes.

This study focuses on assessing two key predictors and outcomes in Bipolar Disorder: cognition and functionality performance, dividing them into two subgroups, and then researching for a correlation between them.

The results bring additional support to the notion that BDII disorder is not a merely mild type of BDI, and the only independent predictor of psychosocial functioning in both patient groups.

Low-functioning patients were cognitively more impaired than highly functioning patients on verbal recall and executive functions and the variable that best predicted psychosocial functioning in bipolar patients was verbal memory.

A substantial proportion of bipolar patients experience unfavorable functioning, suggesting that there is a significant degree of morbidity and dysfunction associated with BD, even during remission periods.

Given the importance of cognitive impairments for psychosocial outcomes in bipolar disorder, the development of interventions targeting Cognitive impairments is imperative for improving recovery rates and quality of life in patients, even after adequate symptom control.

The hypothesis that enduring aspects of cognitive impairment found even in euthymic BPD patients are associated with inferior functioning is supported and should be encouraged to encourage further studies with better assessment methods and greater rehabilitative efforts in B PD patients.

Important findings for clinical management are the following: depressive episodes and symptoms, which dominate the course of BP-I and BP-II, are equal to or more disabling than corresponding levels of manic or hypomanic symptoms, and subsyndromal depressive symptoms are associated with significant impairment.

The Functioning Assessment Short Test (FAST) is a brief instrument designed to assess the main functioning problems experienced by psychiatric patients, particularly bipolar patients.

A poorer performance was observed in all bipolar groups regarding executive function and verbal memory in relation to the healthy comparison subjects, and cognitive difficulties, especially related to verbal memory, may help explain the impairment regarding daily functioning, even during remission.

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