Prevalence of vulnerability for bipolar spectrum disorder among students of pakistan

Introduction: Bipolar Affective Disorder is cyclic swinging of mood between mania or hypo-mania and depression. Lifetime prevalence of bipolar disorder is 2.4%. A numbers of risk factors are associated with bipolar disorders including age, sex, and genetic predisposition, environmental factors and socioeconomic status. The main objective of the conducted study was to assess vulnerability for bipolar spectrum disorder among the students of different Pakistani institutes. Methods : This cross sectional survey was conducted in different undergraduate and postgraduate institutes of Karachi, Lahore and Islamabad. Students of both genders having age 18 or above fulfilling the inclusion criteria were included in this study after verbal consent. 668 students included in this study were given a Mood Disorder Questionnaire, 634 students returned the filled questionnaire. Out of which, 10 questionnaires were discarded due to their inappropriate filling giving an overall usable return rate of 93.4 % (624 out of 668) which was further used for data analysis. Results: On screening of students included in study ( 624 ) the vulnerability for BSD was positive in 89 students (14.3%). Among the 89 students who were screened positive, 39 students were males (43.8%)and 50 were females ( 56.2% ) . The vulnerability for BSD was most common in student group of 20-21 year old. The family history of psychiatric illness was found to be positive in 39 students ( 43.8% ) . The diagnosis of bipolar disorders was also made by consultant psychiatrist in 28 (31.5%)students . Conclusion: The estimated rate of prevalence for bipolar spectrum disorder among students of Paki stan is 14.3%. No significant difference in prevalence of BSD was observed in either gender. However, the age group of 20-21 years was the most affected one. Genetic influence was found to have an impact on the prevalence rate. Declaration of Interest: None. Keywords : Bipolar Disorder, Prevalence, Risk Factors.