Manic symptoms and quality of life in bipolar disorder

This study evaluates the influence of manic symptoms on quality of life in a sample of adult bipolar disorder (BD) patients. This was a cross-sectional study including 125 BD outpatients from a university-based program. All patients were diagnosed using the Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-IV for BD. Manic symptoms and quality of life were assessed using the Young Mania Rating Scale (YMRS) and the World Health Organization Quality of Life Instrument-Short Version (WHOQOL-BREF), respectively. In the unadjusted analysis using linear regression, the score of manic symptoms was inversely associated with scores of quality of life within the social domain of the WHOQOL. In the adjusted analysis, the score of manic symptoms was inversely associated with the social, physical, and psychological domains of the WHOQOL. In a separate analysis at the YMRS items, items 4 (irritability) and 5 (sleep) were associated with lower quality of life.