The Workplace Bipolar Inventory, a 39-item questionnaire used to screen for bipolar disorder in the workplace, showed promise in a small study, according to Kotaro Imamura, Ph.D., and his associates.
The investigator asked workers who were on sick leave because of mental health problems to complete the Workplace Bipolar Inventory (WBI), the Mood Disorder Questionnaire, and the Bipolar Spectrum Diagnostic Scale. A subscale of the WBI called the WBI-AB4 proved to have the screening performance that was most informative.
“According to the optimal cut-off point, WBI-AB4 would be useful for occupational mental health staffs to screen out bipolarity among workers who have depressive symptoms at the workplace; however, more information of the suspected subjects about the manic/hypomanic episode from their supervisor, colleagues, or family was needed,” reported Dr. Imamura of the department of mental health at the University of Tokyo, and his associates.
Find the full study in the Journal of Affective Disorders (doi:10.1016/j.jad.2015.02.034).