Identifying prior signals of bipolar disorder using primary care electronic health records: a nested case-control study

Catharine Morgan, Darren M Ashcroft, Carolyn A Chew-Graham, Matthew Sperrin, Roger T Webb, Anya Francis, Jan Scott, Alison R Yung

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

Abstract

BACKGROUND: Bipolar disorders are serious mental illnesses, yet evidence suggests that the diagnosis and treatment of bipolar disorder can be delayed by around 6 years.

AIM: To identify signals of undiagnosed bipolar disorder using routinely collected electronic health records.

DESIGN AND SETTING: A nested case-control study conducted using the UK Clinical Practice Research Datalink (CPRD) GOLD dataset, an anonymised electronic primary care patient database linked with hospital records. 'Cases' were adult patients with incident bipolar disorder diagnoses between 1 January 2010 and 31 July 2017.

METHOD: The patients with bipolar disorder (the bipolar disorder group) were matched by age, sex, and registered general practice to 20 'controls' without recorded bipolar disorder (the control group). Annual episode incidence rates were estimated and odds ratios from conditional logistic regression models were reported for recorded health events before the index (diagnosis) date.

RESULTS: There were 2366 patients with incident bipolar disorder diagnoses and 47 138 matched control patients (median age 40 years and 60.4% female: n = 1430/2366 with bipolar disorder and n = 28 471/47 138 without). Compared with the control group, the bipolar disorder group had a higher incidence of diagnosed depressive, psychotic, anxiety, and personality disorders and escalating self-harm up to 10 years before a bipolar disorder diagnosis. Sleep disturbance, substance misuse, and mood swings were more frequent among the bipolar disorder group than the control group. The bipolar disorder group had more frequent face-to-face consultations, and were more likely to miss multiple scheduled appointments and to be prescribed ≥3 different psychotropic medication classes in a given year.

CONCLUSION: Psychiatric diagnoses, psychotropic prescriptions, and health service use patterns might be signals of unreported bipolar disorder. Recognising these signals could prompt further investigation for undiagnosed significant psychopathology, leading to timely referral, assessment, and initiation of appropriate treatments.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)e165-e173
JournalThe British journal of general practice : the journal of the Royal College of General Practitioners
Volume74
Issue number740
Early online date7 Feb 2024
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 1 Mar 2024

Keywords

  • bipolar disorder
  • case-control studies
  • electronic health records
  • primary health care
  • prodromal symptoms
  • signs and symptoms

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