Objectives: Studies have suggested that episode polarity at illness onset in bipolar disorder may be predictive of some aspects of lifetime clinical characteristics. We here examine this possibility in a large, well-characterized sample of patients with bipolar I disorder. Methods: We assessed polarity at onset in patients with bipolar I disorder (N = 553) recruited as part of our ongoing studies of affective disorders. Lifetime clinical characteristics of illness were compared in patients who had a depressive episode at first illness onset (n = 343) and patients who had a manic episode at first illness onset (n = 210). Results: Several lifetime clinical features differed between patients according to the polarity of their onset episode of illness. A logistic regression analysis showed that the lifetime clinical features significantly associated with a depressive episode at illness onset in our sample were: an earlier age at illness onset; a predominantly depressive polarity during the lifetime; more frequent and more severe depressive episodes; and less prominent lifetime psychotic features. Conclusions: Knowledge of pole of onset may help the clinician in providing prognostic information and management advice to an individual with bipolar disorder. © 2009 The Authors Journal compilation © 2009 Blackwell Munksgaard.
CITATION STYLE
Forty, L., Jones, L., Jones, I., Smith, D. J., Caesar, S., Fraser, C., … Craddock, N. (2009). Polarity at illness onset in bipolar I disorder and clinical course of illness. Bipolar Disorders, 11(1), 82–88. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1399-5618.2008.00654.x
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