Table 4. Correlations between questionnaire scores and the absolute post-DST cortisol deviation among bipolar patients.

	Pearson correlations (n = 145)
	r	p
Depression
BDI	0.228	0.006
MADRS-S	0.229	0.006
Anxiety
BAI	0.129	0.122
BSA-S	0.170	0.041
Global Functioninga
GAF current	−0.145	0.085
GAF last year	−0.228	0.006
Quality of Lifeb
Overall QOL	−0.229	0.006
Physical domain	−0.202	0.015
Psychological domain	−0.241	0.004
Independence domain	−0.291	<0.001
Social relationships domain	−0.116	0.167
Environment domain	−0.215	0.010
Spirituality domain	−0.170	0.041

BAI, Beck Anxiety Inventory; BSA-S, Brief Scale for Anxiety – Self assessment; BDI, Beck Depression Inventory; DST, dexamethasone suppression test; GAF, Global Assessment of Functioning; MADRS-S, Montgomery Åsberg Depression Rating Scale – Self assessment; QOL, Quality of Life. We aimed to evaluate whether the magnitude of the deviation from an “ideal” post-DST cortisol value within the patient sample was positively correlated with more symptoms, lower global functioning and QOL (for a more detailed explanation see the results and discussion sections). To that effect, we chose the median post-DST cortisol value within the control group as an “ideal” value (308 nmol/l) and the absolute post-DST cortisol deviation from that value was calculated for each patient. Bivariate correlations were performed using Pearson correlation.

^aGlobal Functioning analyses, n = 142.

^bQuality of Life analyses, n = 144.