Consequences of delayed diagnosis of bipolar disorders.
Over 60% of individuals with bipolar disorders report that they received between 1-4 prior diagnoses, with delay in diagnosis being a particular problem in females with bipolar II disorders. Clinical recognition of bipolarity may take up to 10 years, during which time individuals may have received a number of inadequate or inappropriate treatments. This paper describes the adverse clinical, functional and economic consequences of the failure to identify cases of bipolar disorder at the earliest possible time.
Psychological medicine, institute of neuroscience, Newcastle University, UK. jan.scott@newcastle.ac.uk
J
J
Scott
M
M
Leboyer
D000041:Absenteeism; D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D001714:Bipolar Disorder / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000191:economics / Q000523:psychology; D057210:Delayed Diagnosis; D003937:Diagnosis, Differential; D005260:Female; D017048:Health Care Costs; D005102:Health Expenditures; D006297:Health Services Accessibility; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D012737:Sex Factors; D055815:Young Adult