skip to content
Dovepress - Open Access to Scientific and Medical Research
View our mobile site

8847

Clinical characteristics and long-term response to mood stabilizers in patients with bipolar disorder and different age at onset

Original Research

(2421) Views  (641) Full article downloads

Authors: Bernardo Dell’Osso, Massimiliano Buoli, Riccardo Riundi, Nazario D’Urso, et al.

Published Date July 2009 Volume 2009:5 Pages 399 - 404
DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.2147/NDT.S5970

Bernardo Dell’Osso1, Massimiliano Buoli1, Riccardo Riundi2, Nazario D’Urso1, Sara Pozzoli1, Roberta Bassetti2, Emanuela Mundo1,  A Carlo Altamura1

1Department of Psychiatry, University of Milan, Fondazione IRCCS Ospedale Maggiore Policlinico, Mangiagalli e Regina Elena, Milano, Italy; 2Department of Clinical Sciences, Luigi Sacco, Milano, Italy

Introduction: Bipolar disorder (BD) is a prevalent, comorbid, and impairing condition. Potential predictors of response to pharmacological treatment are object of continuous investigation in patients with BD. The present naturalistic study was aimed to assess clinical features and longterm response to mood stabilizers in a sample of bipolar subjects with different ages at onset.

Methods: The study sample included 108 euthymic patients, diagnosed as affected by BD, either type I or II, according to the DSM-IV-TR, who were started on mood stabilizer treatment. Patients were followed-up for 24 months and the occurrence of any mood episode collected. At the end of the follow-up, patients were divided in three subgroups according to the age at onset (early-onset ≤30 years, middle-onset >30–≤45 years, and late-onset >45 years, respectively) and the long-term response to mood stabilizers was compared between them along with other clinical features.

Results: The three subgroups showed significant differences in terms of clinical and demographic features and, with respect to long-term response to mood stabilizers, the early-onset subgroup showed a better outcome in terms of reduction of major depressive episodes during the 24-month follow-up compared to the other subgroups (one way ANOVA, F = 3.57, p = 0.032).

Conclusions: Even though further controlled studies are needed to clarify the relationship between age at onset and outcome in BD, the present follow-up study suggests clinical peculiarities and different patterns of response to mood stabilizers across distinct subgroups of patients with BD and different ages at onset.

Keywords: bipolar disorder, age at onset (AAO), mood stabilizers, long-term treatment








Readers of this article also read:

Periosteoplasty for covering gingival recessions: Clinical results
Radiolucency below the crown of mandibular horizontal incompletely impacted third molars and acute inflammation in men with diabetes
Role of aliskiren in cardio-renal protection and use in hypertensives with multiple risk factors
Treatment and prevention of mania in bipolar I disorder: focus on aripiprazole
Enucleation following treatment with intravenous pentamidine for Acanthamoeba sclerokeratitis
Perception of risk and benefit in patient-centered communication and care
The relationship between deliberate self-harm behavior, body dissatisfaction, and suicide in adolescents: current concepts
Zinc oxide nanoparticles as selective killers of proliferating cells
Cumulative clinical experience from over a decade of use of levofloxacin in community-acquired pneumonia: critical appraisal and role in therapy
Erratum