Health-related quality of life in pediatric bipolar disorder

Abstract

Adult bipolar disorders have been associated with significantly impaired health-related quality of life (HRQOL) however; few studies have examined these associations in youths diagnosed with bipolar disorders. This study explored the relations among clinician-rated mood symptoms and parent-reported HRQOL of 155 youths diagnosed with a bipolar disorder. Youths and their parents were evaluated using a semi-structured diagnostic interview, mania and depression symptoms scales, and the KINDL health-related quality of life instrument. Symptoms of mania were significantly negatively correlated only with the "Family" subscale of the HRQOL. Symptoms of depression were significantly negatively correlated with all of the HRQOL subscales except the "Friends" subscale. Regression models controlling for ADHD and ODD indicated that mania and depression ratings explained an additional 13% of the variance in "Physical" HRQOL. However, only depression ratings explained a significant portion of the variance in the other HRQOL subscales. Variance explained by depression ratings across most other HRQOL subscales ranged from 4% to 18%. Exploratory regression analyses demonstrated that age significantly explained additional variance for "Physical", "Emotional", "Family", and "Total" HRQOL subscales. Specifically, older children appeared to have lower levels of HRQOL across all but the "Friends" subscale. These results suggest that mood symptoms, particularly depressive symptoms are important factors for understanding lower levels of HRQOL in youths diagnosed with pediatric bipolar disorders.