Who Receives Appropriate Bipolar Depression Pharmacotherapy?
The Particulars: Previous reports suggest that many individuals with comorbid bipolar I disorder and depression do not receive guideline-based pharmacotherapy. Investigators recorded data in inpatients with a clinical diagnosis of bipolar I disorder with depression. Pharmacotherapy was blindly rated as consistent or not with published guidelines. Data Breakdown: Most patients in the study (82.6%) received a mood stabilizer, and 72.6% received an atypical antipsychotic. Atypical antipsychotics were more likely to be prescribed to African Americans (87.9%) than Caucasians (68.9%), Latinos (82.1%) and other races (71.4%) and to patients with psychotic features (88.4% vs 65.6%). Women were less likely to be prescribed a mood stabilizer than men and were more likely to receive an atypical antipsychotic in the absence of a mood stabilizer. Patients with psychotic features or borderline personality disorder were more likely to receive more than four psychotropic medications. African Americans
