Kan een positieve screening voor borderline persoonlijkheidsstoornis middels de PDQ- 4+ de ernst van de bipolaire stoornis voorspellen?

Bipolar disorder (BD) is a chronic condition and one of the most costly psychiatric disorders according to the World Health Organization (Murray and Lopez 1997). Although diverse treatment methods have proven efficacy, longitudinal studies have shown that despite of treatment often episodes reoccur, residual symptoms remain and that cognitive and functional impairment are common. Factors that might predict differences in course and symptom severity are therefore of special interest for clinicians. Research has shown that one of these predictors is the presence of comorbid personality disorder (PD) (Bieling et al., 2007; Dunayevich et al., 2002). The prevalence of comorbid PD in patients with BD is estimated between 30 and 40% (Garno et al., 2005; George et al., 2003; Kay et al., 2002; Schiavone et al., 2004) and consists mostly of the B and C cluster and in particular the borderline personality disorder (BPD). Studies show that patients with BD and comorbid PD are more likely to be hospitalized, require more time to achieve symptom remission if at all, have greater levels of suicidality, are less compliant to medication and make more use of mental health care services (Bieling et al., 2007).