ABSTRACT
This study aimed to evaluate the three and six month clinical and demographic outcome predictors [recurrence rate, the rate of hospitalization, severity of illness and recovery rates] in a group of children and adolescents with type I bipolar disorders. The participants of this longitudinal and prospective study were 80 children and adolescents admitted in Roozbeh Hospital, Tehran, Iran with a diagnosis of type I bipolar disorder. Consecutive referrals were included in a prospective cohort. The participants were evaluated at admission, discharge, and follow-up at 3 and 6 months, using demographic questionnaire, Kiddie-Schedule for Affective Disorders and Schizophrenia-Present and Lifetime Version-Persian Version [K-SADS-PL-PV], Young Mania Rating Scale [Y-MRS], Children Depression Inventory [CDI], Beck Depression Inventory [BDI], and Clinical Global Impression [CGI]. The Pearson correlation coefficient and multivariate regressions were used for data analysis. The 6-month follow-up showed that there was a positive correlation between the severity of mania with male gender [p=0.01] and the severity of mania at admission [p=0.04]. The rate of recurrence at the 6-month follow-up was correlated [p=0.05, r=0.22] with psychosis at admission. The duration of untreated disorder [p=0.03] had a positive correlation with the severity of global impairment at the 6 month follow-up. This study confirms the role of some demographic and clinical features in predicting the course of disease and response to treatment