Evaluation of the diagnostic continuity of unspecified mood disorder

Correspondence: Halil İbrahim Tas, Canakkale Onsekiz Mart University, Faculty of Medicine, Department of Psychiatry, Canakkale Turkey Phone: +90 286 218 00 18 20 60 E-mail: tashalilibrahim@gmail.com Received: October 23, 2018; Revised: December 19, 2018; Accepted: March 13, 2019 ABSTRACT Objective: According to ICD-10, the diagnosis of unspecified mood disorder (UMD), coded ‘F39,’ is used when there is insufficient or contradictory information about the patient and the symptoms of mood disorder are not sufficient to diagnose a specific mood disorder. Information about the frequency, diagnostic validity and continuity of this diagnosis is unsatisfactory. Therefore, we aimed to evaluate the prevalence and diagnostic continuity of this diagnosis among individuals diagnosed with UMD in our outpatient clinic. Method: Included in the study were patients who presented to the psychiatry outpatient unit for the first time between January 2011 and December 2017, were diagnosed with mood disorder code ‘F39’ at the first admission, and presented at least three times in different periods (n=48). Outpatient unit records were evaluated retrospectively and the data were analyzed with SPSS version 19.0. Results: The mean follow-up period of 48 patients included in the study was 14.4±13.9 months. The final diagnoses of the patients after follow-up were UMD (42%), depressive disorder (25%), bipolar disorder (17%), and anxiety disorder (10%). It was found that the duration of the follow-up for individuals diagnosed with UMD was significantly shorter than for those with a different diagnosis. No significant difference was found between final diagnoses in terms of age, gender, level of education, and marital status. Conclusion: UMD has less diagnostic stability than other mood disorders. Therefore, longer follow-up durations are needed in patients with UMD, and it is crucial to reconsider the diagnosis during follow-up. Further studies with larger samples are needed to elucidate the stability of UMD.