2016 Issues
Literature Review
1. Vidal-Ribas P, Brotman MA, Valdivieso I et al. The Status of Irritability in Psychiatry: A Conceptual and Quantitative Review. Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry 2016; 7: 556-570.
Comment
The Cantonese layman term of bipolar disorder, often referred to as 狂躁症, can be regarded as a misnomer, and has been replaced by a more descriptive term such as 雙相情緒症 as there has been growing number of research demonstrating that irritability is not the most distinctive feature in bipolar disorder. Instead, symptom such as increase in energy level is a more distinctive feature of bipolar disorder. Nonetheless, the notion that significant irritability equates bipolar disorder is still commonly held locally, not only among the general population but also among some non-psychiatric doctors. It is further consolidated by the fact that irritable mood is still a central diagnostic feature of mania or hypomania in DSM-5. This article offers a comprehensive and up-to-date review of the role of irritability in contemporary psychiatry, from theories to research evidence. The authors also performed a meta-analysis on the prediction of irritability to psychiatric disorders using longitudinal studies. Interestingly, no significant findings were reported with regards to the development of bipolar disorder. Instead, depression and anxiety disorder were predicted by irritability. This article invariably provided the readers with more insight into and the clinical implications of the role of irritability in psychiatric disorders.
2. Bauer R, Conell J, Glenn T et al. Internet Use by Patients with Bipolar Disorder: Results from an International Multisite Survey. Psychiatry Research 2016; 242: 388-394.
Comment
Internet technology (IT) is widely available and has been recognized as a transformative tool for patient education. Health website, support forums and medication website offer an economical way to reach large number of patients who can read about topics of interest on their own schedule from any location.

This is an interesting paper and also the first international (involving 17 countries including Hong Kong) study, aims to better understand of how patients with bipolar disorder obtain information about their illness, to characterize the patients with bipolar disorder who use the internet and to understand the experience of those who seek information online about bipolar disorder.

In a nutshell, more than half of the patients used the interest to search for an information on bipolar disorder. The internet may increase exposure to information sources on bipolar disorder, as patients who use the internet consult more sources of information such as physician, other patients, printed media or television. Trusted sources of information are still needed on a variety of media.
3. Kwong BLM. On a Second Bipoalr Study. The Hong Kong Practitioner 2016; 38: 52. (Posted with permission from The Hong Kong Practitioner)
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