Korean J Leg Med.  2015 Nov;39(4):109-114. 10.7580/kjlm.2015.39.4.109.

Gender-Dependent Characteristics of Bipolar Patients in the National Forensic Psychiatric Hospital

• Kim D
• Lyu MK
• Yang J
• Kim S
• Kim M

• KMID: 2130854
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.7580/kjlm.2015.39.4.109

Abstract

Forty patients (20 male and 20 female) diagnosed with bipolar disorder voluntarily participated in this study. For each patient, questionnaire and computerized objective data, obtained from involved doctors, nurses, psychologists, prosecutors, and the hospital information system, were collected after receiving the patients'written consent. When a patient's answers diverged greatly from computerized data (i.e., onset age, history of criminal prosecution and re-hospitalization), computerized data were given priority. Immediately after the authors collected the questionnaires, any personal identifying information was replaced by random numbers to prevent bias and protect privacy. Statistical analysis was performed using SPSS version 20.0 for MS Windows. Comparative items on questionnaires were evaluated by paired t test and chi square test. Male patients were found to have a higher recidivism rate than female patients (P<0.05). Female patients reported more trauma history (P<0.05), bipolar type II diagnoses (P<0.05), and suicide attempts (P<0.01) than male patients. There was no statistically significant difference between male and female patients for Intelligence Quotient (IQ) or for 13 of the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI) subscales.

Keyword

Bipolar disorder; Forensic; Gender

MeSH Terms

Age of Onset
Bias (Epidemiology)
Bipolar Disorder
Criminals
Diagnosis
Female
Hospital Information Systems
Hospitals, Psychiatric*
Humans
Intelligence
Male
MMPI
Privacy
Psychology
Suicide

Figure

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  Fig. 1. Proposed sex differences in a 5-hydroxytryptamine (5-HT) synapse. Panel shows the difference of 5-HT receptors between males and females. The density of both reuptake transporters on the cleft of the presynaptic serotonin cell and 5-HT receptors on the cleft of the postsynaptic cell is higher in females (F, female; M, male). Adopted from Cosgrove KP, et al. Biol Psychiatry 2007;62:847-55, with permission of Elsevier [5].

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