Comparison of insight in bipolar disorder with and without co-morbid substance use disorders

Abstract

Aims

Compare the level of insight in bipolar disorder (BD) with and without substance use disorders (SUD).

Methods

Case-control study during a period of six months from July 2015 to December 2015. One hundred euthymic patients with BD (type I, II or unspecified) were recruited in the department of psychiatry C Razi Hospital, during their follow-up. Two groups were individualized by the presence or not of SUD co-morbidity. We evaluated and compared insight with Birchwood IS scale (with its three sub-scales),

Results

The mean age was 40.6 years (±16.4). The sex ratio was 2. Sixty-six percent of patients were diagnosed with bipolar disorder type 1 and type 2 bipolar disorder remains.

There is no statistically significant difference between bipolar with and without SUD in terms of quality of insight.

As for the subscales, bipolar patients with comorbid SUD had lower scores of awareness of any symptoms, whereas there was no significant difference regarding the awareness of illness and the need for treatment between the two populations.

Conclusions

Co-morbid SUD can affect the quality of insight in individuals with BD. Patients with this co-morbidity should be targeted for intensive psycho-educational measures and psychotherapeutic interventions focused on the improvement of insight.

Disclosure of interest

The authors have not supplied their declaration of competing interest.