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. 2006 Oct;48(4):254-7.
doi: 10.4103/0019-5545.31559.

The course of bipolar disorder in rural India

Mohit P Chopra  1 , K V Kishore Kumar, D K Subbakrishna, Sanjeev Jain, R Srinivasa Murthy
Affiliations

The course of bipolar disorder in rural India

Mohit P Chopra et al. Indian J Psychiatry. 2006 Oct.

Abstract

Aim: To examine the naturalistic course of bipolar disorder in a rural, community-based, partially treated cohort.

Methods: All patients diagnosed with bipolar disorder during an epidemiological survey (n=34) in a rural area in India were followed longitudinally using standardized instruments, and the life-chart method used to examine their course.

Results: Seven (26%) of the 27 patients evaluated directly had not received any treatment whatsoever. Four patients (15%) had experienced rapid-cycling at some time; patients without rapid-cycling had experienced a mean 0.22 episodes/year. Episodes of mania accounted for 72% of all episodes. None of the variables examined appeared to predict the total number of episodes experienced by individual patients, although rapid-cycling occurred significantly more often if the patients had not received any psychopharmacological treatment.

Conclusions: A mania-predominant course was observed in this small cohort, similar to reports from other developing countries.

Keywords: Bipolar disorder; longitudinal follow-up; mania; rural.

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