Mental illness in uganda: factors associated with recovery time of bipolar disorder patients at Butabika Hospital, Kampala.

Abstract

The main objective of the study was to analyze the time a patient with Bipolar disorder admitted at Butabika National Referral Hospital took to recover. The study used administrative records from Butabika hospital for a period of ten years (2001-2011) among patients admitted at the hospital; these totaled to 420. An inclusion criterion was only those admitted to Butabika hospital with bipolar disorder with an exception of patients without an official exit date of discharge (escaped from the hospital), those in outpatient department and those who had not yet been discharged. In this study, recovery time was that time between the admission of a patient to the hospital with severe symptoms of mania, depression or mixed phase to the time the patient was discharged officially; when he or she is mentally calm. A median time of 25 days was obtained. To assess the relationship between the dependent and the independent variables, a Poisson model for count data was used. From the findings of the study, it was revealed that female patients take 8% longer time in recovery, religion contributes significantly (p=0.043) to recovery time, drug abuse hinders recovery, patients who have lost either one parent or both have a shorter recovery time, HIV positive patients take 18% less time in recover compared to their counterparts, education affects recovery time, employment contributes to a quick recovery accounting for a less 11% in recovery time, marriage, family history, phase of the disorder affect recovery and physical illness contributes to the longer recovery time. Since employment aids recovery of mental patients the study recommends that programs ought to come up to help people with and survivors of mental illness acquire or maintain their jobs.