Bipolar Disorder with Seasonal Pattern: Clinical Characteristics and Gender Influences. (November 2013)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Geoffroy, Pierre Alexis; Bellivier, Frank; Scott, Jan; Boudebesse, Carole; Lajnef, Mohamed; Gard, Sébastien; Kahn, Jean-Pierre; Azorin, Jean-Michel; Henry, Chantal; Leboyer, Marion; Etain, Bruno
• Is Part Of: Chronobiology international. Volume 30:Number 9(2013)
• Page Start: 1101
• Page End: 1107
• Publication Date: 2013-11
• Subjects: Chronobiology -- Periodicals; Biological rhythms -- Periodicals; Circadian rhythms -- Periodicals; 571.77
• DOI: 10.3109/07420528.2013.800091
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0742-0528

Abstract

<abstract> <title> <x xml:space="preserve">Abstract</x> </title> <p>Bipolar disorder (BD) has a multifactorial etiology with heterogeneous clinical presentations. Around 25% of BD patients may present with a depressive seasonal pattern (SP). However, there are limited scientific data on the prevalence of SP, its clinical manifestations, and any gender influence. Four hundred and fifty-two BD I and II cases (62% female), recruited from three French university-affiliated psychiatric departments, were assessed for SP. Clinical, treatment, and sociodemographic variables were obtained from structured interviews. One hundred and two (23%) cases met DSM-IV (<italic>Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fourth Edition</italic>) criteria for SP, with similar frequency according to gender. Multivariate analysis showed a significant association between SP and BD II (odds ratio [OR] = 1.99, <italic>p</italic> = 0.01), lifetime history of rapid cycling (OR = 2.05, <italic>p</italic> = 0.02), eating disorders (OR = 2.94, <italic>p</italic> = 0.003), and total number of depressive episodes (OR = 1.13, <italic>p</italic> = 0.002). Seventy-one percent of cases were correctly classified by this analysis. However, when stratifying the analyses by gender, SP was associated with BD II subtype (OR = 2.89, <italic>p</italic> = 0.017) and total number of depressive episodes (OR = 1.21, <italic>p</italic> = 0.0018) in males but with rapid cycling (OR = 3.02, <italic>p</italic> = 0.0027) and eating disorders (OR = 2.60, <italic>p</italic> = 0.016) in females. This is the first study to identify different associations between SP and clinical characteristics of BD according to gender. The authors suggest that SP represents a potentially important specifier of BD. These findings indicate that seasonality may reflect increased severity or complexity of disorder.</p> </abstract>