Prevalence of bipolar spectrum disorder in Korean college students according to the K-MDQ

Seung Oh Bae,¹ Moon Doo Kim,² Jung Goo Lee,³ Jeong-Suk Seo,⁴ Seung-Hee Won,⁵ Young Sup Woo,⁶ Jeong-Ho Seok,⁷ Won Kim,⁸ Se Joo Kim,⁷ Kyung Joon Min,⁹ Duk-In Jon,¹⁰ Young Chul Shin,¹¹ Won Myong Bahk,⁶ Bo-Hyun Yoon<sup>12

1</sup>Hangang Mental Clinic, Kimpo, ²Department of Psychiatry, School of Medicine, Jeju National University, Jeju, ³Department of Psychiatry, College of Medicine, Inje University Haeundae Paik Hospital and Paik Institute for Clinical Research, Busan, ⁴Department of Psychiatry, College of Medicine, Konkuk University, Chungju, ⁵Department of Psychiatry, College of Medicine, Kyungpook National University, Daegu, ⁶Department of Psychiatry, Yeouido St Mary's Hospital, College of Medicine, The Catholic University of Korea, Seoul, ⁷Department of Psychiatry, Yonsei University, College of Medicine, Seoul, ⁸Department of Psychiatry, College of Medicine, Inje University, Seoul, ⁹Department of Psychiatry, College of Medicine, Chung-Ang University, Seoul, ¹⁰Department of Psychiatry, College of Medicine, Hallym University, Anyang, ¹¹Department of Psychiatry, Kangbuk Samsung Hospital, School of Medicine, Sungkyunkwan University, ¹²Naju National Hospital, Naju, Korea

Background: The purpose of this study was to assess the prevalence of bipolar spectrum disorder (BSD) in the general Korean population.
Methods: A sample of college students (n = 1026) was stratified to reflect geographical differences accurately in Korean college students. The Korean version of the Mood Disorder Questionnaire (K-MDQ) was administered and an epidemiological survey carried out between November 2006 and February 2007. BSD was defined as a score of at least seven K-MDQ symptoms that co-occurred and resulted in minimal or more functional impairment.
Results: The prevalence of BSD was 18.6% (95% confidence interval [CI] 16.2–21.0) in total, being 19.8% (95% CI 16.3–23.2) in men and 17.5% (95% CI 14.2–20.8) in women. The prevalence of BSD was more common in rural dwellers than in urban dwellers (P = 0.008, chi-square test). Univariate and multivariate regression models showed that rural residence was a significant factor associated with BSD. There were significant relationships between BSD and gender, age, and socioeconomic status.
Conclusion: The prevalence of BSD found in the present study is higher than that reported by other epidemiological studies in Korea and in international studies.

Keywords: general population, bipolar disorder, epidemiological study, Mood Disorder Questionnaire