Measuring personal recovery in older adults with bipolar
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Developing and evaluating a questionnaire to assess personal recovery experiences in older people with bipolar disorder
IRAS ID
318878
Contact name
Jennifer Matthewson
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
University of Manchester
Duration of Study in the UK
1 years, 7 months, 1 days
Research summary
Research Summary - Bipolar occurs in around 1% of people aged over 65 and can impact relationships and ability to do tasks or activities. There is little research on older people with bipolar disorder (BD). There is even less research on treatment that helps them. Most therapies for younger people with BD focus on clinical recovery such as symptoms and relapse. Despite this, research with service users shows they want therapy to focus on personal recovery. Personal recovery is about having hope and living a full life. As a result, services are starting to focus more on personal recovery.
Research often looks at how therapy can help people with their recovery. To do this, there needs to be a useful measure of recovery. There are no current measures so this study hopes to create a reliable measure of recovery experiences for use with older adults.
The study will involve working with people over 60 years old with a diagnosis of BD to see what personal recovery means to them. Older adults with lived experience of BD will meet online or in the community to discuss their views on recovery. They will look at a recovery measure created for younger people with BD and discuss if items feel relevant. A measure for older adults will then be created and checked by service users and clinicians to ensure it is easy to read.Once the measure is finalised, a group of older adults with bipolar living in the community will complete it. They will also complete other measures on mental health and wellbeing. The group will be asked to complete the measure again 4 weeks later to see if their answers change. The study will take place over two years from when older adults are invited to take part to when results are written up.
Lay Summary - Research shows that older adults experience mental health issues differently than younger adults, but there has been less focus on the needs of people aged 60 and over. This study created the first questionnaire of personal recovery designed with and for older adults with bipolar.To create the questionnaire, we brought together nineteen people with clinical experience, research knowledge, and personal experience of bipolar in later life. We used focus groups, online meetings, and feedback forms to gather feedback and adapt a personal recovery questionnaire developed for working age adults. Older adults with bipolar pointed out important aspects of recovery that change with age. These included the impact of physical health problems and the importance of finding new purpose in life after changes to their roles. By working together, we created the Bipolar Recovery Questionnaire for Older Adults (BRQ-OA).
We then tested the BRQ-OA to see if it was accurate at measuring personal recovery and whether results were the same over time. Fifty-five participants, all aged 60 or older, completed the BRQ-OA and other questionnaires on mood, quality of life and everyday functioning. Everyone completed the BRQ-OA again four weeks later.
We found that BRQ-OA scores were similar over the four-week period. We also found that people who scored higher on the BRQ-OA, had lower levels of depression and mania and better quality of life and functioning. This means the questionnaire was able to capture different aspects that are often linked to personal recovery.
Overall, the study showed the BRQ-OA is an accurate and helpful tool for measuring personal recovery in older adults with bipolar. It is the first personal recovery measure designed specifically with and for older adults with bipolar. This tool can help mental health clinicians and researchers focus on personal recovery and better support older adults with bipolar.
Has the registry been updated to include summary results?: Yes
If yes - please enter the URL to summary results: 10.17605/OSF.IO/CZ82Q
If no – why not?:
Did you follow your dissemination plan submitted in the IRAS application form (Q A51)?: Yes
If yes, describe or provide URLs to disseminated materials: All research papers submitted but awaiting peer review.
If pending, date when dissemination is expected:
If no, explain why you didn't follow it:
Have participants been informed of the results of the study?: Yes
If yes, describe and/or provide URLs to materials shared and how they were shared: Information shared via email with all participants who consented to being contacted about the outcomes of the research. Research papers will be shared once published.
If pending, date when feedback is expected:
If no, explain why they haven't:
Have you enabled sharing of study data with others?: No
If yes, describe or provide URLs to how it has been shared:
If no, explain why sharing hasn't been enabled: Not applicable.
Have you enabled sharing of tissue samples and associated data with others?: No
If yes, describe or provide a URL:
If no, explain why: Not applicable.REC name
London - Brighton & Sussex Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
23/LO/0193
Date of REC Opinion
10 Mar 2023
REC opinion
Favourable Opinion