Effect of combining social rhythm therapy to treatment of bipolar disorder versus treatment as usual: a comparative study on a sample of Egyptian patients
Abstract Background Bipolar disorder (BD) is a common mental illness that is usually associated with significant morbidity causing critical impairment in socio-occupational functioning and even mortality. Social rhythm therapy (SRT) has been suggested as an adjunctive psychotherapy in BD treatment p...
| Main Authors: | , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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SpringerOpen
2024-01-01
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| Series: | Middle East Current Psychiatry |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1186/s43045-024-00393-x |
| _version_ | 1797340329150513152 |
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| author | Esraa Darwish Ahmed Mubarak Mai Eissa Reham Amer |
| author_facet | Esraa Darwish Ahmed Mubarak Mai Eissa Reham Amer |
| author_sort | Esraa Darwish |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Abstract Background Bipolar disorder (BD) is a common mental illness that is usually associated with significant morbidity causing critical impairment in socio-occupational functioning and even mortality. Social rhythm therapy (SRT) has been suggested as an adjunctive psychotherapy in BD treatment protocols, with its proposed benefits of accelerating recovery from bipolar episodes, delaying relapses, and upgrading patients’ functioning. This study aimed to investigate the outcomes of combining SRT with pharmacological treatment, as compared to pharmacotherapy alone, in a sample of Egyptian BD patients. Sixty eligible bipolar patients were enrolled in this comparative study by convenience sampling and randomly divided into two groups for comparison; group I included 30 BD-I patients treated as usual (TAU) with pharmacological treatment only, while group II included 30 BD patients treated with social rhythm therapy in addition to the traditional psychotropic medications. Manic and depressive symptoms as well as socio-occupational functioning were assessed at baseline and after 3 months of treatment using the Mood Disorder Questionnaire (MDQ), Hamilton Depression Rating Scale (HDRS), and Socio-occupational Functioning Assessment Scale (SOFAS). Results Patients treated with SRT therapy showed significant improvement in their manic and depressive symptoms as well as socio-occupational functioning after 3 months of treatment by 65.76%, 55.87%, and 52.5%, respectively. Linear regression analysis showed that the gender and age of the patient could significantly predict improvement of MDQ% in group II, while none of the studied variables could significantly predict the percentage of change in HDRS or SOFAS. Conclusion SRT could be a promising adjunctive therapy promoting early recovery of BD patients compared to standalone pharmacological treatment. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-08T10:01:30Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-1c0d2233f9344971b737b335a286b4e1 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2090-5416 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-08T10:01:30Z |
| publishDate | 2024-01-01 |
| publisher | SpringerOpen |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Middle East Current Psychiatry |
| spelling | doaj.art-1c0d2233f9344971b737b335a286b4e12024-01-29T10:54:31ZengSpringerOpenMiddle East Current Psychiatry2090-54162024-01-0131111010.1186/s43045-024-00393-xEffect of combining social rhythm therapy to treatment of bipolar disorder versus treatment as usual: a comparative study on a sample of Egyptian patientsEsraa Darwish0Ahmed Mubarak1Mai Eissa2Reham Amer3Psychiatry and Neurology Department, Faculty of Medicine, Tanta UniversityPsychiatry and Neurology Department, Faculty of Medicine, Tanta UniversityPsychiatry and Neurology Department, Faculty of Medicine, Tanta UniversityPsychiatry and Neurology Department, Faculty of Medicine, Tanta UniversityAbstract Background Bipolar disorder (BD) is a common mental illness that is usually associated with significant morbidity causing critical impairment in socio-occupational functioning and even mortality. Social rhythm therapy (SRT) has been suggested as an adjunctive psychotherapy in BD treatment protocols, with its proposed benefits of accelerating recovery from bipolar episodes, delaying relapses, and upgrading patients’ functioning. This study aimed to investigate the outcomes of combining SRT with pharmacological treatment, as compared to pharmacotherapy alone, in a sample of Egyptian BD patients. Sixty eligible bipolar patients were enrolled in this comparative study by convenience sampling and randomly divided into two groups for comparison; group I included 30 BD-I patients treated as usual (TAU) with pharmacological treatment only, while group II included 30 BD patients treated with social rhythm therapy in addition to the traditional psychotropic medications. Manic and depressive symptoms as well as socio-occupational functioning were assessed at baseline and after 3 months of treatment using the Mood Disorder Questionnaire (MDQ), Hamilton Depression Rating Scale (HDRS), and Socio-occupational Functioning Assessment Scale (SOFAS). Results Patients treated with SRT therapy showed significant improvement in their manic and depressive symptoms as well as socio-occupational functioning after 3 months of treatment by 65.76%, 55.87%, and 52.5%, respectively. Linear regression analysis showed that the gender and age of the patient could significantly predict improvement of MDQ% in group II, while none of the studied variables could significantly predict the percentage of change in HDRS or SOFAS. Conclusion SRT could be a promising adjunctive therapy promoting early recovery of BD patients compared to standalone pharmacological treatment.https://doi.org/10.1186/s43045-024-00393-xBipolar disorderSocial rhythm therapyEarly recoveryTreatment strategy |
| spellingShingle | Esraa Darwish Ahmed Mubarak Mai Eissa Reham Amer Effect of combining social rhythm therapy to treatment of bipolar disorder versus treatment as usual: a comparative study on a sample of Egyptian patients Middle East Current Psychiatry Bipolar disorder Social rhythm therapy Early recovery Treatment strategy |
| title | Effect of combining social rhythm therapy to treatment of bipolar disorder versus treatment as usual: a comparative study on a sample of Egyptian patients |
| title_full | Effect of combining social rhythm therapy to treatment of bipolar disorder versus treatment as usual: a comparative study on a sample of Egyptian patients |
| title_fullStr | Effect of combining social rhythm therapy to treatment of bipolar disorder versus treatment as usual: a comparative study on a sample of Egyptian patients |
| title_full_unstemmed | Effect of combining social rhythm therapy to treatment of bipolar disorder versus treatment as usual: a comparative study on a sample of Egyptian patients |
| title_short | Effect of combining social rhythm therapy to treatment of bipolar disorder versus treatment as usual: a comparative study on a sample of Egyptian patients |
| title_sort | effect of combining social rhythm therapy to treatment of bipolar disorder versus treatment as usual a comparative study on a sample of egyptian patients |
| topic | Bipolar disorder Social rhythm therapy Early recovery Treatment strategy |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1186/s43045-024-00393-x |
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