الفهرس 
Overview of Bipolar Disorder
Etiology of Bipolar DisorderOnly 14 pages are availabe for public view
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Abstract
Bipolar disorder is a common, chronic and lifelong
disorder characterized by recurrent episodes of mania or
hypomania and depression which causes grave and debilitating
consequences for its sufferers.
Bipolar disorder can be challenging to diagnose and
manage. It is often assumed to be recurrent major depression,
until an episode of mania/hypomania occurs and the diagnosis
of bipolar disorder is confirmed. Bipolar disorder is
characterized by extreme mood swings – from hopeless
depression to euphoric or irritable mania – with each episode
usually bookended by symptom free periods referred to as
euthymia.
WHO ranks bipolar disorder collectively as the 6th most
common moderately to severely disabling condition in the
world for any age group. It has been associated with direct costs
such as the costs of hospitalization and medications, and
indirect costs such as productivity loss, and burden on family
and care givers.
The disease produces a range of unpleasant and
debilitating symptoms, which can have a profound impact
including disrupting activities of daily living, employment,
income, relationships, social and leisure activities, and life
goals, which are known to influence quality of life. BD patients
have markedly lower quality of life than the general population.Thus, adjusting to the illness is therefore particularly
challenging, given the evidence that psychoeducation
(psychosocial nursing intervention) is a structured intervention
focused on achieving improvement in mental health and
psychosocial aspects of chronic health conditions.
Aim of the study:
The aim of this study was to assess the effect of quality of life
among patients with bipolar disorder.
Subject and setting:
The study was conducted in the outpatient clinic of the
Institute of Psychiatry at Ain Shams University. A descriptive
explorative study design was used to accomplish the aim of the
study. The subjects were 100 cases of BD who met the
following criteria during the study period: age between 18 and
50 years old, from both sexes, all education levels, had a
definite diagnosis of BD ”of any type” , agreed to participate in
the study, free from any psychiatric disorders except bipolar
disorder, and had no medical disorders.
Data collection tools:
Data were collected using interviewing questionnaire
containing the following parts: socio-demographic sheet,
detailed history of illness, and drug attitude inventory (DAI-
30). As well as, using World Health Organization Quality of
Life – BREF questionnaire (WHOQOL- BREF, 26 items), it
provides a quality of life measure to BD.Fieldwork:
A pilot study was carried out on 10 cases. The fieldwork lasted
from the beginning of November 2015 to the mid of April 2016.
The main findings of this study showed that:
1- There were more than half of the sample fell at age group
between 25-31oyears old; and nearly half of the sample was
divorced. Regarding residence, three fifths of the sample
lived in urban areas, as well as more than two thirds of the
sample had finished secondary education, but only (5%) of
the sample was illiterate. In addition, three quarters of the
studied sample were unemployed, as well three fifths of the
sample had not enough monthly income, and the highest
percentage of the sample suffered from the high cost of the
treatment & transportation.
2- There were less than three quarters of the sample had
gradual onset of the symptoms; and less than three fifths
had weekly duration of these symptoms. Less than three
fifths of the sample had predisposing factors during the
episode, while the majority of the sample had increase in
the intensity of symptoms. Regards the psychiatric illness in
their family, the highest percentage of the sample was
without psychiatric illness in family members but only
(10%) had psychiatric illness in family members.
3- The highest percentage of the sample had poor quality of
life regarding the overall QOL and general health domain,
and less than three quarters of them had adequate level as regards the physical health domain, and nearly half of them
had poor scores regarding psychological the psychological
domain. As regards the social relationship domain, half of
them had average scores, and the majority of them had
average scores in the environment domain.
4- Less than three quarters of the study sample had positive
attitude towards drugs, while more than one quarter of the
subject had a negative attitude towards it.
5- There was a highly statistically significant relation between
the educational level, marital status, age, and gender as
regards the overall QOL & general health domain, and
physical health domain among patients with bipolar
disorder.
6- There was a highly statistically relation between age,
gender, educational level, and monthly income as regard
psychological domain and social relationship domain
among patients with BD.
7- There was a highly statistically significant relation between
age, gender and educational level with the environment
domain among patients with BD.
8- There was a highly statistically significant relation between
gender, age, adequacy of monthly income, and suffering
from the cost of treatment as regards the drug attitude
inventory.It is concluded that the QOL of bipolar patients is poor
in the overall QOL and psychological domain regarding
bipolar disorder.