Demographic and diagnostic features of 3147 inpatients with mood disorders in Iran

Abstract

Objectives: To assess and compare demographic and diagnostic characteristics of inpatients with mood disorders in Iran. Materials and Methods: We collected the demographic, clinical, and treatment characteristics of patients, who were hospitalized during five years from April 2006 to March 2010, in Iran hospital of psychiatry, a residency training center to evaluate the general clinical picture of the disorder. Results: Overall, 95.3% of subjects had a diagnosis of bipolar I disorder (BID), 2.5% were diagnosed as bipolar II disorder (BIID) and 1.3% and 0.9% met the criteria for major depressive disorder (MDD) and bipolar not otherwise specified (NOS), respectively. Compared to patients withMDDand BIID, the onset of BID was at an earlier age (32.2 ± 1, 34.8 ± 1.5 and 29.9 ± 1.9 years old, respectively, P < 0.001). In addition, a number of admissions, mean duration of each admission and number of treatments with electro-convulsive therapy (ECT) were significantly higher in patients with BID. Conclusions: Bipolar I disorder was the most common diagnosis for inpatients with mood disorders and a more severe course in BID may indicate more severe impairments that would result in more severe disabilities.