Rapid cycling in women and men with bipolar manic-depressive disorders.
OBJECTIVE
This study investigated risks for rapid cycling, as defined by DSM-IV, in women and men with bipolar disorders.


METHODS
The results of 10 studies with a total of 2,057 bipolar patients were meta-analyzed by pooled contingency methods.


RESULTS
The proportions of women and men among rapid-cycling cases averaged 72% and 28%, respectively, but the risk of rapid cycling was inconsistently more frequent among women (29.6%) than among men (16.5%). The mean number of episodes per year was much higher in rapid-cycling patients before and during lithium treatment but was similar in rapid-cycling men and women.


CONCLUSIONS
Rapid cycling was only moderately, and inconsistently, more common in bipolar women than men.
Department of Psychiatry, Harvard Medical School, Mailman Research Center, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, USA.
L
L
Tondo
R J
RJ
Baldessarini
D001714:Bipolar Disorder / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000523:psychology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008094:Lithium / Q000627:therapeutic use; D008297:Male; D011569:Psychiatric Status Rating Scales / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D012307:Risk Factors; D017678:Sex Distribution; D012737:Sex Factors
D008094:Lithium