Title

Comprehensive comparison of monotherapies for psychiatric hospitalization risk in bipolar disorders.

Publication Date

6-19-2018

Abstract

OBJECTIVES: This study compared 29 drugs for risk of psychiatric hospitalization in bipolar disorders, addressing the evidence gap on the >50 drugs used by US patients for treatment.

METHODS: The Truven Health Analytics MarketScan

RESULTS: Three drugs were associated with significantly lower risk of psychiatric hospitalization than lithium: valproate (relative risk [RR] = 0.80, P = 3.20 × 10

CONCLUSIONS: This largest reported retrospective observational study on bipolar disorders pharmacotherapy to date demonstrates that the majority of patients end monotherapy within 2 months after treatment start. The risk of psychiatric hospitalization varied almost two-fold across individual medications. The data add to the evidence favoring lithium and mood stabilizer use in short-term bipolar disorder management. The findings that the dopaminergic drugs aripiprazole and bupropion had better outcomes than other members of their respective classes and that antidepressant outcomes may vary by baseline mood polarity merit further investigation.

ISSN

1399-5618

Document Type

Article

Publication Title

Bipolar disorders

COinS