Table 2.
Sociodemographic and clinical characteristics of patients with bipolar disorder and their family caregiversa
| Caregiver | Patient | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| FFT-HPI (n = 24) | HE (n = 19) | t or (Χ²)b | FFT-HPI (n = 22)c | HE (n = 18)c | t or (Χ²)b | |
| Female | 20 (83.3) | 16 (84.2) | 14 (63.6) | 11 (61.1) | ||
| Age, mean ± SD | 51.8 ± 12.8 | 54.0 ± 11.9 | 1.98 | 39.4 ± 16.7 | 29.0 ± 12.9 | 2.15 |
| Ethnicity | 0.73 | 0.23 | ||||
| Caucasian | 19 (79.2) | 14 (73.7) | 16 (72.7) | 14 (77.8) | ||
| African American | 0 (0) | 2 (10.5) | 1 (4.5) | 2 (11.1) | ||
| Hispanic | 5 (20.8) | 2 (10.5) | 5 (22.7) | 2 (11.1) | ||
| Other | 0 (0) | 1 (5.3) | 0 (0) | 0 (0) | ||
| Marital status | 0.23 | 0.06 | ||||
| Married/cohabitating | 14 (58.3) | 5 (26.3) | 3 (13.6) | 3 (16.7) | ||
| Widowed/divorced/separated | 6 (25.0) | 8 (42.1) | 7 (31.8) | 5 (27.9) | ||
| Never married | 4 (16.7) | 6 (31.6) | 12 (54.5) | 10 (55.6) | ||
| Employment status | 0.47 | 1.10 | ||||
| Full time | 12 (50.0) | 10 (52.6) | 3 (13.6) | 4 (22.2) | ||
| Part time | 5 (20.8) | 6 (31.6) | 6 (27.3) | 1 (5.6) | ||
| Retired | 6 (25.0) | 3 (15.8) | 0 (0) | 0 (0) | ||
| Unemployed | 1 (4.2) | 0 (0) | 11 (50.0) | 5 (27.8) | ||
| Student | 0 (0) | 0 (0) | 2 (9.1) | 8 (44.4) | ||
| Relationship of caregiver to patient | 1.50 | |||||
| Parent | 15 (62.5) | 15 (79.0) | ||||
| Spouse/significant other | 4 (16.7) | 2 (10.6) | ||||
| Adult child | 5 (20.8) | 1 (5.3) | ||||
| Friend or neighbor | 0 (0) | 1 (5.3) | ||||
| Living with patient | 14 (58.3) | 14 (73.7) | 1.10 | |||
| Socioeconomic status | ||||||
| I or II | 13 (54.2) | 10 (52.7) | 3 (13.6) | 2 (11.1) | ||
| III | 8 (33.3) | 6 (31.6) | 7 (31.8) | 4 (22.2) | ||
| IV or V | 3 (12.5) | 3 (15.8) | 12 (54.5) | 12 (66.6) | ||
| Age of onset, mean ± SD | 21.3 ± 12.0 | 18.1 ± 7.3 | 0.98 | |||
| Total psychiatric admissions, mean ± SD | 4.4 ± 5.3 | 4.3 ± 3.8 | 0.04 | |||
| Lifetime diagnosis | ||||||
| Bipolar I disorder | 0 (0) | 0 (0) | 19 (86.4) | 15 (83.3) | ||
| Bipolar II disorder | 0 (0) | 0 (0) | 3 (13.6) | 3 (16.7) | ||
| Major depressive disorder | 8 (33.3) | 6 (31.6) | 0 (0) | 0 (0) | ||
| Current episode | 0.42 | |||||
| Major depressive episode | 0 (0) | 2 (10.5) | 10 (45.5) | 8 (44.4) | ||
| Manic episode | 0 (0) | 0 (0) | 3 (13.6) | 3 (16.7) | ||
| Hypomanic episode | 0 (0) | 0 (0) | 0 (0) | 2 (11.1) | ||
| No episode | 24 (100) | 17 (89.5) | 9 (40.9) | 5 (27.8) | ||
| HAM-D score, mean ± SD | 15.6 ± 10.3 | 14.9 ± 5.7 | 0.26 | |||
| YMRS score, mean ± SD | 8.8 ± 9.7 | 9.2 ± 9.2 | 0.15 | |||
All values are n (%) unless otherwise noted.
Due to low expected cell frequencies, Χ2 or Fisher's exact tests were calculated combining across categories for the following variables: ethnicity (white versus nonwhite), marital status (ever versus never married), employment (working versus not working), relationship to caregiver (parent versus other), current episode (any episode versus none). Tests could not be performed for gender, lifetime diagnosis, and socioeconomic status (SES), but groups did not differ by more than 3% on these variables except for patient SES, where the values in the HE group were weighted toward the lower end of the distribution. No comparisons performed were significant at p < 0.05.
The lower n for patients relative to caregivers reflects the participation of two couples in FFT-HPI and one couple in HE.
FFT-HPI = Family-Focused Treatment-Health Promoting Intervention; HE = health education intervention; HAM-D = Hamilton Rating Scale for Depression; YMRS = Young Mania Rating Scale.