Evaluation of bipolar disorder in inpatients with prelingual deafness

Objective: This study retrospectively examined the occurrence of bipolar di sorder in patients with prelingual deafness who were hospitalized for a psy chiatric disorder. Method: The hospital charts since 1983 of all psychiatri cally admitted deaf patients were retrospectively evaluated for diagnoses b y using DSM-IV criteria. Those with a best-estimate diagnosis of bipolar di sorder were compared to those with other diagnoses. Results: There were 28 patients with prelingual deafness who had at least one psychiatric diagnosi s from 1983 to 1998. Upon chart review, 11 (39.3%) were diagnosed with bipo lar disorder. Patients with bipolar disorder and deafness had rates of inac curate discharge diagnoses that were similar to those of other deaf patient s (70.8% versus 56.7%). Conclusions: Bipolar disorder may be more common in inpatients with prelingual deafness than has been previously described in the literature. Further research regarding the sources contributing to misd iagnosis of psychiatric disorders in this population is warranted.