An evolutionary approach to mania studying Sardinian immigrants to Argentina

Abstract

Objective: To ascertain lifetime prevalence of positivity to a screening questionnaire for bipolar disorders (BD) in Sardinian immigrants to Argentina and residents of Sardinia and assess whether such positivity affects quality of life (QoL) in either group. Our hypothesis is that screen positivity for BD may be more frequent in immigrants. Methods: Observational study. Subjects were randomly selected from the membership lists of associations of Sardinian immigrants in Argentina. A study carried out in Sardinia using the same methodology was used for comparison. The Mood Disorder Questionnaire was used to screen for mania/hypomania and the Short-Form Health Survey-12 to measure QoL. Results: A higher prevalence of manic/hypomanic episodes was found in Sardinian immigrants to Argentina (p o 0.0001; odds ratio = 3.0, 95% confidence interval 1.87-4.77). Positivity at screening was associated with a lower QoL both in Sardinian immigrants to Argentina and in residents of Sardinia. Conclusions: To the best of our knowledge, this is the first study to show a higher lifetime prevalence of manic/hypomanic episodes in a general-population sample of individuals who migrated to a foreign country. Our results are in agreement with the hypothesis that hyperactive/novelty-seeking features may represent an adaptive substrate in certain conditions of social change.

Megacities, migration and an evolutionary approach to bipolar disorder: a study of Sardinian immigrants in Latin America

“…Table 1 shows that the sample of Brazilian immigrants did not differ significantly from the Argentinian or Sardinian samples regarding gender, although there were significantly more males than in the Italian sample. 11 The Brazilian immigrants were also similar in age to the Argentinians, but there were fewer people p 40 than in the Sardinian and Italian samples. Moreover, the education level of the Brazilian immigrants was higher than the other three control samples, and the Argentinian sample had a higher education level than the Italian and Sardinian samples.…”

“…The results were compared with those of an epidemiological survey carried out in seven Italian regions (Agenzia Italiana del Farmaco [AIFA] study on the use of antidepressants), 17 including its sub-sample of Sardinian residents, as well as with results from Buenos Aires. 10,11 These studies used a similar methodology. 10,11,17,18 Sample Both men and women over 18 years of age were included in the survey.…”

“…10,11 These studies used a similar methodology. 10,11,17,18 Sample Both men and women over 18 years of age were included in the survey. Associations of Sardinians provided a list of immigrant families in Brazil.…”

“…The interviewers, native speakers of Italian with a good knowledge of Spanish or Portuguese, were psychiatric rehabilitation technicians or trained physicians. The cutoff for MDQ positivity was set at X 8 'yes' scores, as in the previous Argentinian study, 11 the Italian study used for comparison 17,19 and the Brazilian validation study. 20…”

“…10 A preliminary study appeared to confirm a higher rate of hypomania in a sample of Sardinian immigrants residing in the city of Buenos Aires, Argentina. 11 The purpose of the present study was to measure the hypomania rate in a sample of Sardinian immigrants in four Brazilian metropoles (Curitiba, Belo Horizonte, Rio de Janeiro and Sã o Paulo) using the Mood Disorder Questionnaire (MDQ). 12 The rates in Brazil were compared to those found in Buenos Aires and seven Italian regions, including Sardinia.…”