Clinical outcome in bipolar disorder in a community-based follow-up study in Butajira, Ethiopia.

Full Abstract

OBJECTIVE: To determine the clinical outcome of bipolar disorder in a developing country setup. METHOD: After assessing 68 378 individuals, aged 15-49 years, in a double-sampling design in a rural community in Ethiopia, 312 patients with bipolar disorder were prospectively monitored with symptom rating scales and clinically for an average of 2.5 years. RESULTS: Overall, 65.9% of the cohort experienced a relapse--47.8% manic, 44.3% depressive and 7.7% mixed episodes--and 31.1% had persistent illness. Female gender predicted depressive relapse, while male gender predicted manic relapse. Being on psychotropic medication was associated with remission. CONCLUSION: This large community-based study confirms the relapsing nature of bipolar disorder and a tendency for chronicity. This may be partly because of lack of appropriate interventions in this setting; however, it may also indicate the underlying severity of the disorder irrespective of setting.

Author information

Author/s: Fekadu, A (A); Kebede, D (D); Alem, A (A); Fekadu, D (D); Mogga, S (S); Negash, A (A); Medhin, G (G); Beyero, T (T); Shibre, T (T);

Affiliation: Institute of Psychiatry, Kings College London, London, UK.

Journal and publication information

Publication Type: Journal Article; Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

Journal: Acta psychiatrica Scandinavica (Acta Psychiatr Scand), published in Denmark. (Language: eng)

Reference: 2006-Dec; vol 114 (issue 6) : pp 426-34

Dates: Created 2006/11/07; Completed 2007/02/28;

PMID: 17087791, status: MEDLINE (last retrieval date: 2/18/2009, IMS Date: )

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