الفهرس 
Bipolar disorder as an immunological disorderOnly 14 pages are availabe for public view
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Abstract
In response to a severe global catastrophe, the World Health Organization (WHO) proclaimed Covid-19 a global pandemic on March 11, 2020. Local health authorities take a number of steps to stop the spread of infection, with social isolation and lockdown being of utmost importance. Such an executive order was viewed from an epidemiological and public health standpoint as a crucial step in controlling disease by restricting population movement, which would reduce the spread of infection.
The current study aimed to assess both the mental health status of BD patients during the pandemic, particularly as regard increase the risk of relapse and appearance of other psychiatric comorbidities, and the psychological impact experienced by patients with bipolar disorder and people without psychiatric illnesses during the pandemic.
The case control study was carried out at outpatient clinics in El-Khanka Mental Health Hospital, Cairo, Egypt, during 8 months interval starting from August 2021 to March 2022. A simple random sample of 50 Bipolar Affective Disorder adult patients were included in addition to 53 adult healthy controls. Enrolled patients were in remission of bipolar episodes for 3 months with young mania rating scale < 7. Participants with intellectual disability, another psychiatric disorders, another neurological disorders or who refused to participate were excluded from the study.
A total of 103 participants were included in the study, 50 in the cases group and 53 in the control group. The mean age among the control was 38.21 ± 10.5, and among the cases was 38.42 ± 10.59, there was no statistical difference in age between cases and controls. There was a statistically significant difference in sex, 50.94% of the control group were males, and 49.06% were females. Regarding the cases group, 72% were males, and 28% were females (p value= 0.028). There was a statistically significant difference in marital status (p value= 0.024), education (p value <0.001), employment state (p value <0.001) and socioeconomic state (p value= 0.043) among cases and controls.
Both groups under the study were impacted by COVID-19 pandemic on different aspects of their life. However, those with bipolar disorder experienced more life impacting changes especially in the context of employment, finances and ability for balancing work and caring of dependents.