Rastreamento positivo para depressão bipolar : um estudo em três unidades básicas de saúde

Abstract

Bipolar disorder is a chronic and highly prevalent mental disorder, being associated with substantial morbidity and mortality. This illness is typified by recurring episodes of mania and depression. Only a few studies have investigated the prevalence of a positive screen for bipolar depression in primary care services, therefore, little is known about the correlates of bipolar depression, when compared with unipolar depression in the primary care. Thus, this survey aimed to compare the prevalence of a positive screen for bipolar depression among returning patients attending three Brazilian primary care centers. Patients with a positive screen for bipolar depression were also compared with those who had a positive screen for unipolar depression. This cross-sectional survey studied 1197 consecutive patients who had responded to self-report instruments accessing depressive symptoms (Center for Epidemiological Studies Depression Scale-CES-D) such as: (hypo) maniac symptoms (Mood Disorder Questionnaire-MDQ), quality of life (WHOQOL-BREF) and a hetero-administered tool accessing functioning (Functional Assessment Short Test-FAST). Medical comorbidity and use of health services were evaluated based on medical records. Patients were partitioned in bipolar and unipolar depression groups based on a pre-established cutoff point of the Mood Disorder Questionnaire. The prevalence of a positive screen for bipolar depression was 4.6% (n=55; CI 95% 3.4-5.8%), while a positive screening for unipolar depression was endorsed by 18.6% (n=223; CI 95% 16.4-20.8%) of patients. Only 10.9% (n=6) of those patients with a positive screening for bipolar depression were recognized by the general practitioner as having a bipolar illness. The bipolar depression group had higher scores in the CES-D (32.6±9.8 vs 28.4±8.7), suicidal ideation (36.3 vs 18.4%), medical comorbidity (47.3 vs 31.4% endorsing ≥ 2 comorbid medical illnesses), along with a worse quality of life. Furthermore, patients with a positive screen for bipolar depression had higher primary care service utilization when compared among patients with a positive screen for unipolar depression. In conclusion, this survey suggests that a positive screen for bipolar depression is highly prevalent in Brazilian northeastern primary care settings and a positive screen for bipolar depression is associated with more severe clinical correlates when compared with patients with a positive screen for unipolar depression. Future prospective studies are needed to provide solid causal inferences.