Outpatients with schizophrenia and bipolar I disorder: do they differ in their cognitive and social functioning?

The authors used a battery of cognitive and social functioning measures to evaluate stable outpatients with schizophrenia (n = 74) and bipolar I disor der (n = 26) who were receiving care at community and rehabilitation progra ms. The groups did not differ significantly on 36 of 41 measures. For most variables, comparisons between groups yielded effect sizes of <0.5. These r esults suggest that individuals with bipolar I disorder receiving community and rehabilitation services have many social and cognitive deficits that a re as severe as those in schizophrenia. (C) 2001 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.