Health-Related Quality of Life in Bipolar Disorder Patients and Their Caregivers

Abstract

Introduction: The health-care implications of quality of life (QOF) in longstanding disorders such as bipolar disorder (BD) for the patients and their caregivers is significant. Objectives: This study compares QOL among BD patients, their caregivers, and healthy controls and assesses whether the level of depression correlates with the scores of QOF in BD patients. Method: We compare BD patients (n = 40), their caregivers (n = 40), and healthy controls (n = 150) on health-related QOF (HRQOL) which was assessed using the 26-item World Health Organization QOL instrument (WHOQOL-BREF, Hindi version). All BD patients were diagnosed using the Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-IV. Within the BD group, we examine the relation between HRQOL using WHOQOL BREF Hindi version and depression assessed on 17-item Hamilton Depression Rating Scale (HDRS). Results: BD patients had lower QOL on all the four domains compared to healthy controls and their caregivers. The four domains of the WHOQOL scale correlated negatively with the HDRS. Conclusions: Our findings suggest that BD depression and residual symptoms of depression are negatively correlated with QOL in BD patients. The comprehensive treatment should target in improving the QOL of both BD patients and their caregivers.