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A cross-sectional descriptive study of clinical features and course of illness in a South African population with bipolar disorder

Thesis (MD)--University of Pretoria, 2012.

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Other Authors: Roos, J.L. (Johannes Louw)
Format: Thesis
Published: University of Pretoria 2013
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access_status_str Open Access
author2 Roos, J.L. (Johannes Louw)
author_browse Roos, J.L. (Johannes Louw)
author_facet Roos, J.L. (Johannes Louw)
collection Thesis
dc_rights_str_mv © 2012 University of Pretoria. All rights reserved. The copyright in this work vests in the University of Pretoria. No part of this work may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, without the prior written permission of the University of Pretoria.
description Thesis (MD)--University of Pretoria, 2012.
format Thesis
id oai:repository.up.ac.za:2263/24414
institution University of Pretoria (South Africa)
last_indexed 2026-06-10T12:39:59.298Z
license_str Other — see source repository
provenance_str_mv Harvested via OAI-PMH from UPSpace — University of Pretoria Institutional Repository
publishDate 2013
publishDateRange 2013
publishDateSort 2013
publisher University of Pretoria
publisherStr University of Pretoria
record_format dspace
source_str UPSpace — University of Pretoria Institutional Repository
spelling oai:repository.up.ac.za:2263/24414 A cross-sectional descriptive study of clinical features and course of illness in a South African population with bipolar disorder Roos, J.L. (Johannes Louw) dr.stof@mweb.co.za Grobler, Christoffel Unipolar mania Mania Recurrent Bipolar disorder (BD) Affective disorders UCTD Thesis (MD)--University of Pretoria, 2012. There is generally a lack of studies examining prevalence and phenomenology of bipolar disorder in Africa. In literature, a unipolar manic course of illness in particular is reported to be rare. The purpose of this study was to investigate and describe the course of illness and clinical features in a cross-section of patients diagnosed with bipolar disorder attending public hospitals in Limpopo Province, South Africa and to determine the rate of a unipolar manic course in this sample of patients. This was a descriptive, cross-sectional study of patients presenting with a history of mania between October 2009 and April 2010, to three hospitals in Limpopo Province. A purposeful sample of 103 patients was recruited and interviewed using the Affective Disorders Evaluation. This study confirms that a unipolar manic course is indeed much more common than rates suggested in present day literature with57% of the study sample only ever experiencing manic episodes. The study also confirms the debilitating nature of bipolar disorder with more than two-thirds being unemployed in spite of a quarter of the study subjects having a tertiary education. The high rates of attempted suicide, history of violence and history of drug abuse all furthermore points to the devastating effects bipolar disorder has on individuals and their families. Treatment choice appeared to be a combination of a mood-stabilising agent in combination with an anti-psychotic. It was found that two-thirds of study subjects had consulted with faith- or traditional healers. Significant gender differences appeared in that females were more likely to suffer from comorbid anxiety disorders, have a history of sexual trauma, and be HIV positive whilst men were more likely to have a forensic- and substance-abuse history, experience hallucinations and receive clozapine. Patients presenting with a unipolar manic course of illness, as described in this thesis, may contribute to the search for an etiologically homogeneous sub-group which presents unique phenotype for genetic research and the search for genetic markers in mental illness. A unipolar manic course therefore needs to be considered as a specifier in diagnostic systems in order to heighten the awareness of such a course of illness in bipolar disorder, with a view to future research. Psychiatry unrestricted 2013-09-06T17:27:23Z 2013-05-07 2013-09-06T17:27:23Z 2013-04-05 2012 2013-05-06 Thesis Grobler, C 2012, A cross-sectional descriptive study of clinical features and course of illness in a South African population with bipolar disorder, PhD thesis, University of Pretoria, Pretoria, viewed yymmdd < http://hdl.handle.net/2263/24414 > D13/4/409/ag http://hdl.handle.net/2263/24414 http://upetd.up.ac.za/thesis/available/etd-05062013-122606/ © 2012 University of Pretoria. All rights reserved. The copyright in this work vests in the University of Pretoria. No part of this work may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, without the prior written permission of the University of Pretoria. application/pdf application/pdf application/pdf application/pdf application/pdf application/pdf University of Pretoria
spellingShingle Unipolar mania
Mania
Recurrent
Bipolar disorder (BD)
Affective disorders
UCTD
A cross-sectional descriptive study of clinical features and course of illness in a South African population with bipolar disorder
title A cross-sectional descriptive study of clinical features and course of illness in a South African population with bipolar disorder
title_full A cross-sectional descriptive study of clinical features and course of illness in a South African population with bipolar disorder
title_fullStr A cross-sectional descriptive study of clinical features and course of illness in a South African population with bipolar disorder
title_full_unstemmed A cross-sectional descriptive study of clinical features and course of illness in a South African population with bipolar disorder
title_short A cross-sectional descriptive study of clinical features and course of illness in a South African population with bipolar disorder
title_sort cross sectional descriptive study of clinical features and course of illness in a south african population with bipolar disorder
topic Unipolar mania
Mania
Recurrent
Bipolar disorder (BD)
Affective disorders
UCTD
url http://hdl.handle.net/2263/24414
http://upetd.up.ac.za/thesis/available/etd-05062013-122606/