ABSTRACT
Objective To develop the bipolar depression index scale (BDIS) and test the validity and reliability of BDIS.Methods The original bipolar depression index scale (BDIS) was developed by the clinical features of bipolar depression reported by the studies focused on comparing the bipolar depression (BP) and unipolar depressive disorder (UP).46 patients with bipolar depression and 44 patients with unipolar depression were rated the original BDIS and enrolled consecutively by DSM-IV.Results There were eleven items in the BDIS.The interrater reliability between eleven items and BDIS score ranged from 0.61 to 0.87.The correlation coefficients between eleven items and BDIS score ranged from 0.53 to 0.73.The Cronbach's alpha of BDIS was 0.68.The mean BDIS score of BP(7.26 ± 3.12 ) was significantly higher than that of UP( (4.80 ± 3.08 ), (P ＜ 0.01 ).The BDIS scores were significantly correlated with the scores of Mood Disorder Questionnaire ( coefficient 0.56) and 32-item hypomania checklist ( coefficient 0.45).The BDIS score could discriminate between BP patients and UP patients by the ROG curve analysis and 5 was the best cutoff score ( sensitivity 0.80, specificity 0.64).Conclusions The validity and reliability of BDIS are fit for the requirements of psychometrics.BDIS may use to differentiate between bipolar depression and unipolar depression in the practice.
ABSTRACT
OBJECTIVES: The aim of this study was to investigate how mental health professionals in Korea evaluate the burden of disease caused by psychiatric disorders and to propose future directions of the public mental health policies. METHODS: A questionnaire was mailed to 240 mental health professionals, who were composed of psychiatrists from mental hospitals and staffs who are nurses, clinical psychologists and social workers working in the community mental health centers in June, 2004. Two hundred twenty four out of two hundred forty subjects (93.3%), which were composed of 104 psychiatrists and 120 staffs, completed the questionnaire. The questionnaire included 6-item questions about the burden of disease in Korea. RESULTS: Mental health professionals reported that the five diseases with the biggest burden were malignant neoplasms, traffic accidents, schizophrenia, alcohol use disorders and cerebrovascular diseases, consecutively. The burden of alcohol use disorders, cerebrovascular diseases, traffic accidents, unipolar depressive disorder and malignant neoplasms are expected to increase over the next several years. The proportions of psychiatric disorders among all the diseases in terms of burden of disease and medical costs were estimated as 18.4% (+/-12.8) and 12.0% (+/-11.7) respectively. CONCLUSION: This study showed that many of Korean mental health professionals have under-estimated burden of psychiatric disorders, especially, unipolar depressive disorder. It would be necessary to emphasize the importance of unipolar depressive disorder in applying educational and public programs for the mental health professionals, as well as for the general population.