Abstract

SOCIODEMOGRAPHIC AND CLINICAL OUTCOMES OF BIPOLAR DISORDER AMONG ADULT PATIENTS IN BEHAVIORAL MEDICINE DEPARTMENT AT SULTAN QABOOS UNIVERSITY HOSPITAL, OMAN

Yousif Obaid*, Ghusoon Al-Qassabi, Shatha Al Ghammari

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Abstract

Aim and objectives: This study aimed to highlight sociodemographic and clinical outcomes of bipolar disorder among adult patients treated in the Behavioral Medicine department at Sultan Qaboos University Hospital (SQUH), Oman. Methods: The study was a single-center retrospective cross-sectional study conducted at the Department of Behavioral Medicine at Sultan Qaboos University Hospital (SQUH), Oman. The study included 265 adult patients treated for bipolar disorder (BD) in the hospital in the period from January 2012 to December 2022. Data were analyzed with SPSS version 27. Descriptive statistics, bar charts, pie charts, and the Pearson correlation test were used for data analysis. The data collected included age, gender, number of admissions, comorbidities, and prescribed medications. Results: During the period of the study, 265 patients were diagnosed and treated with Bipolar disorder BD, (40.4%) were males and (59.6%) were females. The mean age (± standard deviations) was 34.26± 10.915 years. (38.9%) patients attended the outpatient clinic whereas (61.1%) had been admitted to the department wards at least once due to relapses. The majority were admitted with manic relapses (76.5%), compared to females, males were more likely to be hospitalized with mania, while females were more likely to be hospitalized with depression. Equal numbers of patients had Hypertension or Diabetes Mellitus type 2 (5.3%). 40.8% of the patients had monotherapy treatment and 59.2% had polytherapy. The predominant class of medication prescribed for patients with bipolar disorder at SQUH is atypical antipsychotics. Conclusion: This is the first study to report the sociodemographic and clinical outcomes of BD in Oman. The clinical features and outcomes of BD appear to be comparable with previously published studies. By identifying key factors contributing to hospital admissions and gender and age-specific trends in presentations this research contributes to the optimization of patient care by reducing the burden of BD relapses and improving long-term treatment outcomes.

Keywords: Bipolar disorder, Outcome assessment, Behavioral medicine, University medical city, SQUH, Oman medical specialty board, Oman.