The prevalence of mixed episodes during the course of illness in bipolar disorder

Objective:  To investigate the prevalence of mixed episodes during the course of illness in bipolar disorder. Method:  A total of 1620 patients with an ICD‐10 diagnosis of bipolar affective disorder at the first psychiatric contact were identified in a period from 1994 to 2003 in Denmark and the pre...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Acta psychiatrica Scandinavica 2008-03, Vol.117 (3), p.216-224
Main Author: Kessing, L. V.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Adult
Adult and adolescent clinical studies
Alcoholism - diagnosis
Alcoholism - epidemiology
Alcoholism - psychology
Biological and medical sciences
Bipolar disorder
Bipolar Disorder - diagnosis
Bipolar Disorder - epidemiology
Bipolar Disorder - psychology
Bipolar disorders
Comorbidity
Cross-Sectional Studies
Denmark
Disease Progression
Female
gender
Gender differences
Humans
ICD-10
International Classification of Diseases
longitudinal
Male
Manic depression
Medical sciences
Middle Aged
mixed episode
mixed mania
Mood disorders
Psychiatry
Psychology. Psychoanalysis. Psychiatry
Psychopathology. Psychiatry
Recurrence
Registries
Sex Factors
Substance-Related Disorders - diagnosis
Substance-Related Disorders - epidemiology
Substance-Related Disorders - psychology
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Summary:Objective:  To investigate the prevalence of mixed episodes during the course of illness in bipolar disorder. Method:  A total of 1620 patients with an ICD‐10 diagnosis of bipolar affective disorder at the first psychiatric contact were identified in a period from 1994 to 2003 in Denmark and the prevalence of mixed, depressive and hypomanic/manic episodes were calculated at each episode. Results:  The prevalence of mixed episodes increased from the first episode to the tenth episode, however, only for women (6.7% of the first episodes leading to psychiatric care compared with 18.2% of the tenth episodes). For men, the prevalence of mixed episodes was constantly low. At all episodes, the presence of a current mixed episode increased the risk substantially of getting a future mixed episode. Conclusion:  Clinicians should pay more attention to mixed episodes, especially among women, as they may represent an increasing treatment challenge as the illness progress.
ISSN:0001-690X
1600-0447
DOI:10.1111/j.1600-0447.2007.01131.x