Depressive symptoms and muscular fitness contribute independently to the ability to perform
daily life activities in people with bipolar disorder
Sammanfattning
Background: Compared with healthy controls, people with bipolar disorder experience muscle
weakness. The extent to which muscle weakness influences the performance of daily life activities
such as walking in people with bipolar disorder requiring hospitalization is unclear. Aims: The
primary aim of the current study was to explore whether depressive symptoms and muscular fitness
independently contribute to the walking capacity in people with bipolar disorder. A secondary aim
was to identify variables that could explain the variability in muscular fitness. Methods: Forty-two
inpatients with bipolar disorder performed a standing broad jump test (SBJ), a measure of muscular
performance, and the six minute walk test (6MWT) in addition to the International Physical Activity
Questionnaire (IPAQ), the Depressive Symptomatology Self Report (QIDS) and a full-fasting metabolic
screening. Results: The correlation between the 6MWT (595.0 ± 27.3m) and SBJ (126.2 ± 8.6m) was
high (r = 0.72, p <0.001). In backward regression analyzes, 82.3% of the variance in 6MWT was
explained by SJB, QIDS (7.6 ± 5.1) and the presence of metabolic syndrome (n = 16; 38%), while
83.0% of the variance in SBJ-score was explained by age, and the QIDS and IPAQ (1435.3 ± 1179.8
MET-min/week) scores. Conclusions: Depressive symptoms and muscular fitness contribute
independently to daily life functioning in people with bipolar disorder. Thus, muscular rehabilitation
strategies might offer a strategy for improving performance of daily life activities in this group.