Bipolar Disorder Impedes Workplace Productivity

Although research on psychiatric disorders and workplace productivity has generally focused on MDD, the results of the National Comorbidity Survey Replication suggest bipolar disorder takes a much greater toll employee for employee. 3,378 workers were assessed with both the Composite International Diagnostic Interview and the WHO Health and Work Performance Questionnaire. 6.4% of probands met criteria for depression and only 1.1% met criteria for bipolar disorder; however, bipolar disorder was associated with 65.5 lost workdays per worker per year as opposed to 27.2 days per worker per year with MDD. The researchers reported that the increased loss of productivity for bipolar patients was due to intensity of depressive episodes rather than the effects of mania or hypomania. This study appeared in the American Journal of Psychiatry. http://ajp.psychiatryonline.org/cgi/content/abstract/163/9/1561