Patients With Bipolar Disorder At Increased Risk For Wide Range Of Health Problems, Thomson Reuters Study Finds

Main Category: Bipolar
Article Date: 29 Jul 2009 - 2:00 PDT

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A new study from Thomson Reuters found that patients with bipolar disorder were at greater risk for a wide range of medical conditions than a control group of patients with no mental health diagnoses.

The study analyzed de-identified insurance claims for more than 600,000 Americans with employer-sponsored insurance. It is available here and an interactive graphic charting bipolar patients' risk of comorbid disorders is available here. Key findings include the following:

-- Trauma or Adverse Reactions to Treatment: Patients diagnosed with bipolar disorder were 3.13 times more likely than the control group to have a trauma or adverse reaction to treatment. Approximately 7 percent of bipolar cases had at least one such episode in the two-year study period.

-- Neurological Episodes: Neurological conditions -- such as headaches and spinal cord injuries -- occurred 2.27 times more frequently among bipolar patients. Approximately one-fourth of all enrollees with a bipolar episode also had at least one episode involving the neurological system.

-- Female Reproduction: Conditions involving the female reproductive system -- such as dysfunctional uterine bleeding and breast cancer -- were 25 percent more common among bipolar patients.

The study is based on data contained in the 2006-2007 MarketScan(R) Commercial Claims and Encounters Database. The Thomson Reuters Medical Episode Grouper was used to group each enrollee's claims into distinct episodes of care based on the disease for which treatment was received.

"Medication use and behavioral characteristics are known to increase the risk of disease among bipolar patients, but much is still unknown about the reasons for increased rates of comorbidities among this population and ways to reduce them," said William D. Marder, Ph.D., senior vice president and general manager for the Healthcare & Science business of Thomson Reuters and one of the study's authors. "Our analysis underscores the urgent need for further exploration of how to best increase providers' capacity to address, monitor and ultimately improve the psychiatric and physical health of their bipolar patients."

About Thomson Reuters

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Source: Thomson Reuters