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- Negash, Alemayehu, 1962-, et al.
(författare)
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Neurological soft signs in bipolar I disorder patients
- 2004
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Ingår i: Journal of Affective Disorders. - 0165-0327 .- 1573-2517. ; 80:2/3, s. 221-230
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Background: Neurological soft signs (NSS) have been reported to be more prevalent in patients with schizophrenia compared to other psychiatric and non-psychiatric controls. However, this issue in bipolar I disorder seems to be understudied. Aims: The aims of the study were to examine the extent to which NSS are associated with bipolar I disorder cases compared to healthy controls, to assess the possible relationship between NSS and clinical dimensions of the disorder, and to explore the association of sociodemographic characteristics with the occurrence of NSS in cases with this disorder. Methods: Predominantly treatment naïve cases of bipolar I disorder from rural communities were assessed for NSS using the Neurological Evaluation Scale (NES). Results: This study showed that patients with bipolar I disorder performed significantly worse on two NES items from the sensory integration subscale, on one item from motor coordination and on four items from the ‘others’ subscale, the highest difference in performance being in items under the sequencing of complex motor acts subscale. Clinical dimensions and sociodemographic characteristics appeared to have no relationship with NES total score. Conclusions: Bipolar I disorder patients seem to have more neurological dysfunction compared to healthy controls particularly in the area of sequencing of complex motor acts. In addition, the finding suggests that NSS in bipolar I disorder are stable neurological abnormalities established at its onset or may be essential characteristic features of the disorder representing stable disease process that existed long before its onset.
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| 3. |
- Negash, Alemayehu, 1962-, et al.
(författare)
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Prevalence and clinical characteristics of bipolar I disorder in Butajira, Ethiopia : a community-based study
- 2005
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Ingår i: Journal of Affective Disorders. - : Elsevier BV. - 0165-0327 .- 1573-2517. ; 87:2/3, s. 193-201
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Background Bipolar disorders have been extensively studied in the high-income countries but community-based studies from low-income countries are very rare. The main objectives of the current study are to estimate the lifetime prevalence of bipolar I disorder in the general population of the Butajira district in Ethiopia and to characterize the onset and course of the disorder in a predominantly treatment naïve population. Method Cases were identified by a door-to-door screening of the district's entire adult population aged 15 to 49 years (N = 83,387), where 68,378 were successfully screened. CIDI and key informant method were used in the first stage of screening followed by confirmatory SCAN interviews. Results Three hundred fifteen cases were identified and complete information could be collected for 295 individuals. Of these, 55.3% were males, 83.1% were from a rural area, and 70.2% were illiterate. Lifetime prevalence of bipolar I disorder was estimated to be 0.6% for males and 0.3% for females. The mean age of cases was 29.5 years, with no significant sex difference. The mean age of first recognition of illness was 22.0 years; for men 22.3 years and for women 21.2 years. The mean age at onset of manic phase of the illness was found to be 22.0 years (22.5 for men and 21.4 for women). The mean age at onset of depressive phase was 23.4 years (24.1 for men and 22.5 for women). There was no significant sex difference in the age of onset of manic or depressive phases. In 22.7% of the cases bipolar I illness started with a depressive episode and in 77.3% of the cases it started with a manic episode. Two or more episodes of the illness were reported by 64.1%. Over half of the study subjects (55.9%) had never sought any help from modern healthcare sector, and only 13.2% had ever been admitted to psychiatric hospital. During the survey 7.1% of the cases were undergoing treatment. A previous suicide attempt was reported by 8.1% of the males and 5.4% of the females. Conclusion The overall lifetime prevalence and age of onset are within the range of findings from other studies in Western countries. In contrast to most previous studies, prevalence of the disorder among females was half of that among males. Our finding that prevalence of this disorder among males and females appeared to be different from many other studies warrants further research.
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