Profiling Adults with Bipolar Disorder

by Jayne Krahn

More than 5 million U.S. adults say that they have bipolar disorder, according to Kantar Media’s 2013 MARS OTC/DTC Study. More than 70% of these adults have been professionally diagnosed and more than half say they are treating the condition.

Here are 5 things we learned from the study about adults with bipolar disorder.

1. Adults with bipolar disorder are 72% more likely to be uninsured than the general U.S. adult population.
2. About 30% of adults with this disorder would rate their relationship with their primary care physician as fair or poor, making them 64% more likely to feel that way vs. all adults in the U.S.
3. Adults with bipolar disorder use the Internet differently than all adults. They are more likely to say that the reason for accessing the Internet was to stream video or download music. Further, they are 2 times more likely to use their cell phone/smartphone to look for health-related information.
4. These adults are more than twice as likely to watch animation programs – both evening animation and daytime animation. They’re also more than three times as likely to listen to hip-hop/rap on the radio than all U.S. adults
5. Adults with bipolar disorder are more than twice as likely to value support groups as healthcare information sources compared to all adults. They're also 84% more likely to value TV programs seen in a doctor's office.

Using data from this study can help agencies and marketers understand ailment sufferers, treatment and how to best reach them. For more information about accessing full study results, contact us here.

Kantar Media’s MARS OTC/DTC Study helps agencies, marketers and media make better healthcare media and marketing decisions. It ties multimedia consumption to medical ailments, pharma brands, attitudes and opinions about healthcare and many other data points. A large sample of about 20,000 respondents provides stable and reliable information across categories and brands. Gain insights into category and product usage for 500+ OTC and Rx remedies, detailed information for 70 health conditions, including treatment options and much more.