Sociodemographic Correlates of Bipolar Disorder in Government Hospitals of Lahore: A Quantitative Study

Abstract

Bipolar disorder, a severe and complicated psychological disorder, is one of the main causes of premature mortality globally (Biazus et al., 2024). The study was designed to identify the sociodemographic correlates of bipolar disorder in both inpatients and outpatients in psychiatric departments of the government hospitals of Lahore. Total 1722 cases were interviewed. Out of 210 diagnosed cases of bipolar disorder, 102 (48.5%) were men with mean age 33.65 years (SD = 9.37) while 108 (51.4%) were women with mean age 33.75 years (SD = 9.55). The severity of bipolar disorder was assessed using the Young mania rating scale (YMRS) for manic symptoms, the PHQ-9 for depressive symptoms, and the level of frustration tolerance (LFT) a scale of SCL-R for psychological distress. A demographic form was also administered to contextualize findings. The assessment measures demonstrated acceptable to excellent internal consistency, with Cronbach’s alpha values of .73 for the PHQ-9, .69 for the YMRS, and .92 for the LFT scale. The findings of the study indicate that there is a significant relationship between nature of childhood experiences, marital status, nature of youth experiences, family’s mental health history and the severity of bipolar symptoms. There is an insignificant relationship between age, education, income, no of earners, no of siblings and severity of bipolar disorder. Findings are useful for public health strategies because they can help make tailored policies and measures to deal with bipolar disorder in certain sociodemographic groups aimed at reducing the prevalence and impact of bipolar disorder.

Keywords: Bipolar disorder, sociodemographic correlates, sociodemographic characteristics, mania, bipolar, depression