The International College of Neuropsychopharmacology (CINP) Treatment Guidelines for Bipolar Disorder in Adults (CINP-BD-2017), Part 1: Background and Methods of the Development of Guidelines.
This paper includes a short description of the important clinical aspects of Bipolar Disorder with emphasis on issues that are important for the therapeutic considerations, including mixed and psychotic features, predominant polarity, and rapid cycling as well as comorbidity.



The workgroup performed a review and critical analysis of the literature concerning grading methods and methods for the development of guidelines.



The workgroup arrived at a consensus to base the development of the guideline on randomized controlled trials and related meta-analyses alone in order to follow a strict evidence-based approach. A critical analysis of the existing methods for the grading of treatment options was followed by the development of a new grading method to arrive at efficacy and recommendation levels after the analysis of 32 distinct scenarios of available data for a given treatment option.



The current paper reports details on the design, method, and process for the development of CINP guidelines for the treatment of Bipolar Disorder. The rationale and the method with which all data and opinions are combined in order to produce an evidence-based operationalized but also user-friendly guideline and a specific algorithm are described in detail in this paper.
3rd Department of Psychiatry, School of Medicine, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Thessaloniki, Greece; Centre for Affective Disorders, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience, King's College, London, UK; Department of Psychiatry, University of British Columbia, Mood Disorders Centre of Excellence, Djavad Mowafaghian Centre for Brain Health, Vancouver, Canada; Paracelsus Medical University, Salzburg, Austria; Hospital Clinic, Institute of Neuroscience, University of Barcelona, IDIBAPS, CIBERSAM, Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain; The Royal Institute of Mental Health Research, Department of Psychiatry, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, Canada; Psychiatric Department, Ludwig Maximilians University, Munich, Germany; Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Medical University Vienna, MUV, AKH, Vienna, Austria.
Konstantinos N
KN
Fountoulakis
3rd Department of Psychiatry, School of Medicine, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Thessaloniki, Greece; Centre for Affective Disorders, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience, King's College, London, UK; Department of Psychiatry, University of British Columbia, Mood Disorders Centre of Excellence, Djavad Mowafaghian Centre for Brain Health, Vancouver, Canada; Paracelsus Medical University, Salzburg, Austria; Hospital Clinic, Institute of Neuroscience, University of Barcelona, IDIBAPS, CIBERSAM, Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain; The Royal Institute of Mental Health Research, Department of Psychiatry, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, Canada; Psychiatric Department, Ludwig Maximilians University, Munich, Germany; Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Medical University Vienna, MUV, AKH, Vienna, Austria.
Allan
A
Young
3rd Department of Psychiatry, School of Medicine, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Thessaloniki, Greece; Centre for Affective Disorders, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience, King's College, London, UK; Department of Psychiatry, University of British Columbia, Mood Disorders Centre of Excellence, Djavad Mowafaghian Centre for Brain Health, Vancouver, Canada; Paracelsus Medical University, Salzburg, Austria; Hospital Clinic, Institute of Neuroscience, University of Barcelona, IDIBAPS, CIBERSAM, Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain; The Royal Institute of Mental Health Research, Department of Psychiatry, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, Canada; Psychiatric Department, Ludwig Maximilians University, Munich, Germany; Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Medical University Vienna, MUV, AKH, Vienna, Austria.
Lakshmi
L
Yatham
3rd Department of Psychiatry, School of Medicine, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Thessaloniki, Greece; Centre for Affective Disorders, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience, King's College, London, UK; Department of Psychiatry, University of British Columbia, Mood Disorders Centre of Excellence, Djavad Mowafaghian Centre for Brain Health, Vancouver, Canada; Paracelsus Medical University, Salzburg, Austria; Hospital Clinic, Institute of Neuroscience, University of Barcelona, IDIBAPS, CIBERSAM, Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain; The Royal Institute of Mental Health Research, Department of Psychiatry, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, Canada; Psychiatric Department, Ludwig Maximilians University, Munich, Germany; Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Medical University Vienna, MUV, AKH, Vienna, Austria.
Heinz
H
Grunze
3rd Department of Psychiatry, School of Medicine, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Thessaloniki, Greece; Centre for Affective Disorders, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience, King's College, London, UK; Department of Psychiatry, University of British Columbia, Mood Disorders Centre of Excellence, Djavad Mowafaghian Centre for Brain Health, Vancouver, Canada; Paracelsus Medical University, Salzburg, Austria; Hospital Clinic, Institute of Neuroscience, University of Barcelona, IDIBAPS, CIBERSAM, Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain; The Royal Institute of Mental Health Research, Department of Psychiatry, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, Canada; Psychiatric Department, Ludwig Maximilians University, Munich, Germany; Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Medical University Vienna, MUV, AKH, Vienna, Austria.
Eduard
E
Vieta
3rd Department of Psychiatry, School of Medicine, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Thessaloniki, Greece; Centre for Affective Disorders, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience, King's College, London, UK; Department of Psychiatry, University of British Columbia, Mood Disorders Centre of Excellence, Djavad Mowafaghian Centre for Brain Health, Vancouver, Canada; Paracelsus Medical University, Salzburg, Austria; Hospital Clinic, Institute of Neuroscience, University of Barcelona, IDIBAPS, CIBERSAM, Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain; The Royal Institute of Mental Health Research, Department of Psychiatry, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, Canada; Psychiatric Department, Ludwig Maximilians University, Munich, Germany; Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Medical University Vienna, MUV, AKH, Vienna, Austria.
Pierre
P
Blier
3rd Department of Psychiatry, School of Medicine, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Thessaloniki, Greece; Centre for Affective Disorders, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience, King's College, London, UK; Department of Psychiatry, University of British Columbia, Mood Disorders Centre of Excellence, Djavad Mowafaghian Centre for Brain Health, Vancouver, Canada; Paracelsus Medical University, Salzburg, Austria; Hospital Clinic, Institute of Neuroscience, University of Barcelona, IDIBAPS, CIBERSAM, Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain; The Royal Institute of Mental Health Research, Department of Psychiatry, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, Canada; Psychiatric Department, Ludwig Maximilians University, Munich, Germany; Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Medical University Vienna, MUV, AKH, Vienna, Austria.
Hans Jurgen
HJ
Moeller
3rd Department of Psychiatry, School of Medicine, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Thessaloniki, Greece; Centre for Affective Disorders, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience, King's College, London, UK; Department of Psychiatry, University of British Columbia, Mood Disorders Centre of Excellence, Djavad Mowafaghian Centre for Brain Health, Vancouver, Canada; Paracelsus Medical University, Salzburg, Austria; Hospital Clinic, Institute of Neuroscience, University of Barcelona, IDIBAPS, CIBERSAM, Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain; The Royal Institute of Mental Health Research, Department of Psychiatry, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, Canada; Psychiatric Department, Ludwig Maximilians University, Munich, Germany; Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Medical University Vienna, MUV, AKH, Vienna, Austria.
Siegfried
S
Kasper
D000328:Adult; D014150:Antipsychotic Agents / Q000592:standards / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D001714:Bipolar Disorder / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000266:history; D017408:Guidelines as Topic / Q000592:standards*; D049671:History, 18th Century; D049672:History, 19th Century; D049673:History, 20th Century; D049674:History, 21st Century; D049690:History, Ancient; D006801:Humans; D011600:Psychopharmacology / Q000266:history / Q000379:methods / Q000592:standards
D014150:Antipsychotic Agents
Bipolar Disorder; anticonvulsants; antidepressants; antipsychotics; bipolar depression; evidence-based guidelines; lithium; mania; mood stabilizers; treatment