Background:The Prevalence of obesity in patients with bipolar disorder is reported to be 20-30%.This leads to significant morbidity and mortality due to metabolic syndrome.Hence it is important to study the various factors associated with weight gain, to help develop interventions.

Aim of the study was to look at weight changes occurring during the first month of a manic episode and clinical improvement.In addition to look at various other factors involved in weight gain.

Methods:50 inpatients in an episode of mania were assessed three times between day 1-3, day 10 +/- 2days, day 28 +/- 5 days, MINI, MADRS, YMRS, GAF, CGI-BP, Weight, waist circumference, 24 hr diet recall, eating behavior pattern, appetite scale(visual analogue scale) and a 24 hour recall of Activity scale were used on all 3 occasions.

Results:There was a significant correlation between obesity and duration of illness, number of previous episodes and certain eating behaviors.
There was also a significant correlation between clinical improvement as measured by change in YMRS scores between day 1, day 14 and day 28 and the weight changes between these days.

Conclusions:A substantial number of patients are overweight at admission.The maximum weight gain occurred in the first 10 days of treatment (mean weight of 1.93 kgs) this was associated with certain eating behaviors. Simple interventions during the initial days of the episode may help to prevent or at least reduce the weight gain during this time.Whether weight gain can be used as a predictor for clinical improvement still needs further investigation.