The survey’s goal is to help guide researchers’ studies on depression and bipolar disorder. One survey question asks respondents: “What questions about your health and experience with depression or bipolar disorder would you most like research to help you answer?”
Since its launch in August, more than 5,600 people have taken the survey.
Here are three takeaways from the survey:
1. Both patients with depression and bipolar disorder cited good treatment options as a top priority. Many participants also indicated they would like to know what is causing their depression or bipolar symptoms.
“As we think about what the goals are in research and developing new therapeutics, those goals need to be in alignment with what people with these conditions are really seeking,” Cara Altimus, PhD, associate director at the Milken Institute Center for Strategic Philanthropy who helped oversee the survey initiative, told STAT.
2. Seventy-three percent of respondents indicated depression or bipolar disorder has significantly affected their life. About half said it affected them in the past three to four years, 34 percent said it affected them in the last month and 22 percent said it affected them the day they took the survey. The poll also found about two-thirds of the respondents first encountered mental health symptoms during adolescence.
3. Health experts said the Milken Institute’s survey highlights the cultural shift occurring in medical research to better emphasize patients’ perspectives. Dr. Altimus said it is crucial for researchers, drug companies and funding organizations to include patient considerations in their research efforts. The research team will present preliminary survey findings Oct. 24 at the Milken Institute Future of Health Summit in Washington, D.C.
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