Quality of life and mood disorder episodes: community sample

Objective: To assess quality of life among Brazilian young adults who are 18-24 years old and who experience depressive, manic/hypomanic, and mixed episodes.

Method: This is a cross-sectional population-based study. The sample was selected in clusters. Mood disorders were assessed using a short, structured diagnostic interview-the Mini International Neuropsychiatric Interview (MINI) for DSM-IV and ICD-10 psychiatric disorders. Quality of life was assessed by the MOS 36-item Short-form General Health Survey (SF-36).

Results: The sample comprised 1560 young adults. The prevalence ratio of mood disorder episodes were as follows: 10.0% depressive episode, 2.3% manic/hypomanic episode, and 2.4% mixed episode. Lower scores were found in all domains of quality of life among young adults who experience mood disorder episodes when compared to the general population (p<0.001 in the eight domains of the SF-36). Moreover, the impact on quality of life was higher among young adults with mixed episodes, followed by depressive episodes.

Conclusion: Young adults with mood disorders, even without a previous diagnosis of bipolar disorder, have an impaired quality of life in comparison to the general population.