IOSR Journal of Dental and Medical Sciences (IOSR-JDMS) e-ISSN: 2279-0853, p-ISSN: 2279-0861.Volume 18, Issue 8 Ser. 3 (August. 2019), PP 07-12 www.iosrjournals.org DOI: 10.9790/0853-1808030712 www.iosrjournals.org 7 | Page Course and ClinicalProfile of Patients with Bipolar Affective Disorder. K. Bala Ravi Kumar 1 , D. Vijayalakshmi 2 1 Assistant Professor , 2 Professor, Department of Psychiatry, Andhra Medical College. Visakhapatnam Corresponding Author: K. Bala Ravi Kumar -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Date of Submission: 19-07-2019 Date of acceptance: 05-08-2019 --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- I. Introduction Bipolar affective disorder (BPAD) is a recurrent chronic disordercharacterized by fluctuations in mood state and energy. It affects more than 1% of the world's population irrespective of nationality, ethnic origin, or socioeconomic status.[1] There were 32.7 million cases of bipolar disorder globally in 1990 and 48.8 million in 2013; equivalent to a 49.1% increase in prevalent cases, all accounted for by population increase and ageing.[2] Bipolar disorder is one of the main causes of disability among young people, leading to cognitive andfunctional impairment and raised mortality.[1] Bipolar disorder accounted for 9.9 million Disability Adjusted life Years (DALYs) in 2013, explaining 0.4% of total DALYs and 1.3% of total Years lost due to Disability (YLDs).[2] BPAD has its onset in the young adult years, treatment seeking is often delayedand it has the highest suicide attempt rate among psychiatric disorders.[3] [4] Half of those who died by suicide had at least one diagnosed mental health condition in the year before death, and most mental health conditions were associated with an increased risk of suicide.[5]This is a major public health problem.[6] Understanding the clinical course and its variables helps to know the onset, progression of illness, suicide risk and there by treating the condition and preventing suicide effectively. This study aims to understand clinical profile of patients with bipolar affective disorder. II. Material and Methods The study is conducted in Attavar hospital, Kasturba Medical College, in Southern India. Itis 600 bedded,Multi-speciality, tertiary care teaching hospital. Data from august 2000 to august 2001(One year)is collected from Medical records department of the hospital.Case files with diagnosis of Bipolar affective disorder based on ICD 10 were obtained. Clinical variables of gender, age, age of onset, type and duration of episodes, diagnosis, differential diagnosis, co-morbidity, treatment received and adherence were recorded.The association of categorical values was studied using chi-square test. The difference in means were compared using t-test and the threshold for statistical significance was standard 0.05. III. Results In a general hospital setting the proportion of patients with Psychiatric illness in the study year (august 2000 to 2001)is4% (479) of 11850 cases.(Flow chart 1). Flow chart 1