Investigation of the prevalence of bipolar disorders among the residents in elderly residents in Al_ diwaniya_ Iraq

The aim of this study is to determine the prevalence of bipolar disorder and depression symptoms and factors associated with this prevalence in elderly people living in nursing homes in Iraq. Prevalence, factors associated with socio-demographic variables (gender, age, marital status, social security, income status, source of income), variables related to staying in an institution (probability of old age, reason and duration of staying in an institution, leisure activities) Variables (including physical activity health status perception, presence of chronic diseases and drug use). The universe of this research consisted of elderly people living in the Diwaniye nursing home, the capital of the Qadisiya region in Iraq. The study sample consisted of 100 men and women aged 60 and over who were able to communicate and voluntarily participated in the study. Questionnaire method was used as data collection tool in the research. The diagnosis of additional anxiety disorder was determined by using the DSM-IV compatible SCID-I psychiatric interview form. Beck Depression Inventory, Young Mania Rating Scale and Hamilton Anxiety Rating Scale were used to evaluate depression, mania and anxiety. The group consisting of bipolar disorder patients were compared in terms of sociodemographic, depression, mania episodes, anxiety levels, and anxiety comorbidity frequency and relationship. In our study, 20% of the patients had at least one anxiety disorder and 66% had more than one anxiety disorder. These results show that the bipolar disorder-anxiety comorbidity was found to be 20%. There were 14 patients (14%) who were not diagnosed with additional anxiety disorder. As a result of statistical analysis, no significant difference was found between the groups in terms of scores obtained from the scales. Keywords: Anxiety, Bipolar Disorder, Depression, Manic Depressive, Aging