Patterns of Antipsychotic Use Model in Treatment of Bipolar I Disorder – a 12 Month Observational Study

Abstract

Although bipolar disorder is one of the most debilitating of all psychiatric illnesses in terms of risk for suicide, need for hospitalization, and suffering, the available pharmacologic agents for its treatment, until relatively recently, have been quite limited. Although some estimates suggest that the lifetime prevalence of bipolar disorder worldwide is between 1% and 1.5%, this rate would be higher if patients with bipolar spectrum disorders beyond bipolar I and II disorder were included. The public health importance of this disease is heightened by the high rate of suicidality and the high economic toll it can take, including lost work days and cost of care, as well as poor financial decision-making characteristics of the manic phase of the illness. We tried to evaluate the current practice in the treatment of acute manic episodes in Bipolar I Disorder.