Insight in Inpatients with Psychotic Mania; Demographic and Clinical Factors

Purpose: To evaluate changes of insight in bipolar patients during the mania phase using well-designed scales, and investigate its relation to demographic and clinical factors. Methods: Sixty inpatients with acute psychotic mania were initially assessed using Scale to Assess Unawareness of Mental Disorder (SUMD-Abridged), Young’s Mania Rating Scale (YMRS) and Global Assessment of Function (GAF). The patients were reassessed at the time of symptom resolution. Results: All aspects of insight improved significantly during the resolution of acute mania (p<0.01). Patients with fewer admissions had improved insight into the effects of medication (p=0.02). Those patients with more insight regarding the consequences of the disorder at the time of resolution had a lower age at the onset (p=0.03). Conclusions: Different dimensions of patients’ insight having psychotic mania improve significantly during the resolution of the acute psychotic mania. Patients with the factors predicting poor insight may benefit from directed interventions.