FREQUENCY OF POSITIVE FAMILY HISTORY IN BIPOLAR PATIENTS IN A CATCHMENT-AREA POPULATION

1. Major family studies of bipolar disorder report the frequency of af fective disorder among probands' relatives, but do not usually report the frequency of a positive family history among probands. A single pr evious study was not population based. 2. The Division of Psychiatry o f Ben Gurion University provides virtually all psychiatric services fo r a catchment area of 300,000 people. The authors reviewed the charts of all 236 treated bipolar I patients in 1991, and interviewed 177 of them with a modified FH-RDC. 3. 48% of probands had a family history o f mental illness. 4. However, the present methods of ascertainment may have been insufficiently sensitive.