Phenomenology of rapid-cycling bipolar disorder: data from the first 500 participants in the Systematic Treatment Enhancement Program.
OBJECTIVE
This study compared demographic and phenomenological variables between bipolar patients with and without rapid cycling as a function of bipolar I versus bipolar II status.


METHODS
The authors examined demographic, historical, and symptomatic features of patients with and without rapid cycling in a cross-sectional study of the first 500 patients with bipolar I or bipolar II disorder enrolled in the Systematic Treatment Enhancement Program for Bipolar Disorder, a multicenter project funded by the National Institute of Mental Health designed to evaluate the longitudinal outcome of patients with bipolar disorder.


RESULTS
Rapid-cycling bipolar disorder occurred in 20% of the study group. Rapid-cycling patients were more likely to be women, although the effect was somewhat more pronounced among bipolar I patients than bipolar II patients. In addition, rapid-cycling bipolar patients experienced onset of their illness at a younger age, were more often depressed at study entry, and had poorer global functioning in the year before study entry than nonrapid-cycling patients. Rapid-cycling patients also experienced a significantly greater number of depressive and hypomanic/manic episodes in the prior year. A lifetime history of psychosis did not distinguish between rapid and nonrapid-cycling patients, although bipolar I patients were more likely to have experienced psychosis than bipolar II patients.


CONCLUSIONS
Patients with rapid-cycling bipolar disorder demonstrate a greater severity of illness than nonrapid-cycling patients on a number of clinical measures. This study highlights the need to refine treatments for rapid cycling to reduce the overall morbidity and mortality of patients with this illness course modifier.
Department of Psychiatry, University of Colorado Health Sciences Center, 4455 East 12th Ave., Box A011-15, Denver, CO 80220, USA. christopher.schneck@uchsc.edu.
Christopher D
CD
Schneck
David J
DJ
Miklowitz
Joseph R
JR
Calabrese
Michael H
MH
Allen
Marshall R
MR
Thomas
Stephen R
SR
Wisniewski
Sachiko
S
Miyahara
Melvin D
MD
Shelton
Terence A
TA
Ketter
Joseph F
JF
Goldberg
Charles L
CL
Bowden
Gary S
GS
Sachs
D000328:Adult; D017668:Age of Onset; D001714:Bipolar Disorder / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000523:psychology*; D015331:Cohort Studies; D015897:Comorbidity; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D003866:Depressive Disorder / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000523:psychology; D003937:Diagnosis, Differential; D017831:Diagnosis, Dual (Psychiatry); D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D015995:Prevalence; D011569:Psychiatric Status Rating Scales; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D012737:Sex Factors; D019966:Substance-Related Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000523:psychology