ABSTRACT
Forty patients (20 male and 20 female) diagnosed with bipolar disorder voluntarily participated in this study. For each patient, questionnaire and computerized objective data, obtained from involved doctors, nurses, psychologists, prosecutors, and the hospital information system, were collected after receiving the patients'written consent. When a patient's answers diverged greatly from computerized data (i.e., onset age, history of criminal prosecution and re-hospitalization), computerized data were given priority. Immediately after the authors collected the questionnaires, any personal identifying information was replaced by random numbers to prevent bias and protect privacy. Statistical analysis was performed using SPSS version 20.0 for MS Windows. Comparative items on questionnaires were evaluated by paired t test and chi square test. Male patients were found to have a higher recidivism rate than female patients (P<0.05). Female patients reported more trauma history (P<0.05), bipolar type II diagnoses (P<0.05), and suicide attempts (P<0.01) than male patients. There was no statistically significant difference between male and female patients for Intelligence Quotient (IQ) or for 13 of the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI) subscales.