National trends in the outpatient diagnosis and treatment of bipolar disorder in youth.
BACKGROUND
Although bipolar disorder may have its onset during childhood, little is known about national trends in the diagnosis and management of bipolar disorder in young people.


OBJECTIVE
To present national trends in outpatient visits with a diagnosis of bipolar disorder and to compare the treatment provided to youth and adults during those visits.


METHODS
We compare rates of growth between 1994-1995 and 2002-2003 in visits with a bipolar disorder diagnosis by individuals aged 0 to 19 years vs those aged 20 years or older. For the period of 1999 to 2003, we also compare demographic, clinical, and treatment characteristics of youth and adult bipolar disorder visits.


METHODS
Outpatient visits to physicians in office-based practice.


METHODS
Patient visits from the National Ambulatory Medical Care Survey (1999-2003) with a bipolar disorder diagnosis (n = 962).


METHODS
Visits with a diagnosis of bipolar disorder by youth (aged 0-19 years) and by adults (aged > or = 20 years).


RESULTS
The estimated annual number of youth office-based visits with a diagnosis of bipolar disorder increased from 25 (1994-1995) to 1003 (2002-2003) visits per 100,000 population, and adult visits with a diagnosis of bipolar disorder increased from 905 to 1679 visits per 100,000 population during this period. In 1999 to 2003, most youth bipolar disorder visits were by males (66.5%), whereas most adult bipolar disorder visits were by females (67.6%); youth were more likely than adults to receive a comorbid diagnosis of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (32.2% vs 3.0%, respectively; P < .001); and most youth (90.6%) and adults (86.4%) received a psychotropic medication during bipolar disorder visits, with comparable rates of mood stabilizers, antipsychotics, and antidepressants prescribed for both age groups.


CONCLUSIONS
There has been a recent rapid increase in the diagnosis of youth bipolar disorder in office-based medical settings. This increase highlights a need for clinical epidemiological reliability studies to determine the accuracy of clinical diagnoses of child and adolescent bipolar disorder in community practice.
Moreno
Carmen
C
Unidad de Adolescentes, Hospital General Universitario Gregorio Marañón, Servicio do Psiquiatría, Madrid, Spain.
Laje
Gonzalo
G
Blanco
Carlos
C
Jiang
Huiping
H
Schmidt
Andrew B
AB
Olfson
Mark
M
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D000553:Ambulatory Care / Q000706:statistics & numerical data / Q000639:trends*; D001289:Attention Deficit Disorder with Hyperactivity / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology; D001714:Bipolar Disorder / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000453:epidemiology; D002648:Child; D015897:Comorbidity; D039721:Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders; D011307:Drug Prescriptions / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D005260:Female; D019538:Health Care Surveys / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D006801:Humans; D038801:International Classification of Diseases; D008297:Male; D009819:Office Visits / Q000706:statistics & numerical data / Q000639:trends*; D011613:Psychotherapy / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D011619:Psychotropic Drugs / Q000627:therapeutic use; D012737:Sex Factors; D014481:United States / Q000453:epidemiology
D011619:Psychotropic Drugs