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A marked disparity between functional recovery and symptomatic improvement has been demonstrated in bipolar disorder. However, most of the previous studies have been conducted in the United States, and there is little prospective research from Europe on this topic. The main objective of the present six-month follow-up study was to assess functioning in a sample of Spanish bipolar disorder patients following an acute episode or subsyndromal state. Additionally, we also evaluated the sensitivity to change of the Functioning Assessment Short Test (FAST).A total of 97 bipolar disorder patients with syndromal (n = 59) or subsyndromal (n = 38) symptoms were evaluated using the 17-item Hamilton Depression Rating Scale and Young Mania Rating Scale. The FAST was the primary measure to assess multiple areas of psychosocial functioning. Functioning was evaluated at four different time periods: baseline, 21 days, three months, and six months.A significant improvement in global functioning was found in the whole sample over the six-month period, as indicated by a reduction of FAST total score (mean ± standard deviation) from 39.97 ± 15.10 to 30.65 ± 16.93 (F = 36.104, p = 0.0001). This was also evident in all areas of functioning studied. However, only 26.4% of remitted patients (n = 42) achieved functional recovery, while 79.6% of the total sample (N = 97) experienced clinical remission of acute symptoms.Although many patients presented syndromal recovery, only a minority of them achieved favorable functioning in multiple areas, even after specialized mental health care. Furthermore, the FAST scale was sensitive to detect minimal changes in functioning in both short (21 days) and long (6 months) periods, which may be relevant to the use of this scale in clinical trials.

This prospective open-label study assessed the impact of add-on quetiapine in the treatment of rapid cycling bipolar patients.Fourteen rapid cycling bipolar patients were treated with quetiapine, which was added to their ongoing medication regimen for 112 +/- 33 days. At the beginning of the study, five were manic, three were in a mixed state, three were depressed, two hypomanic and one was euthymic. Patients were assessed prospectively with a modified version of the Clinical Global Impression Scale for Bipolars (CGI-BP), the Young Scale for mania (YMRS) and the Hamilton Scale for Depression (HDRS).A significant reduction of the following scale scores was observed: a 1.8 point reduction for the general CGI-BP (p = 0.013), a -1.3 point for the mania subscale (p = 0.016), a -1.01 point for the YMRS (p = 0.025). Improvement in depressive symptoms was not significant, neither in the CGI-BP (-1 point, p = 0.074) nor in the HDRS (-5.2 points, p = NS). The most common side-effect was sedation (n = 6, 43%). Doses of quetiapine were significantly reduced by the end of the study (443 +/- 235 mg/day versus 268 +/- 190 mg/day, p = 0.008) and they also differed according to the initial episode to be treated (720 +/- 84 mg/day for mania, and 183 +/- 29 mg/day for depression, p = 0.023).Quetiapine could possibly be an effective treatment for rapid cycling bipolar patients. Adequate doses for acute episodes could significantly differ according to the episode polarity and the length of treatment.