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The risk of switch to mania in patients with bipolar disorder during treatment with an antidepressant alone and in combination with a mood stabilizer.

AbstractOBJECTIVE:
This study examined the risk of antidepressant-induced manic switch in patients with bipolar disorder treated either with antidepressant monotherapy or with an antidepressant in conjunction with a mood stabilizer.
METHOD:
Using Swedish national registries, the authors identified 3,240 patients with bipolar disorder who started treatment with an antidepressant and had no antidepressant treatment during the previous year. Patients were categorized into those receiving antidepressant monotherapy and those receiving an antidepressant plus a mood stabilizer. A within-individual design was used to control for confounding by disorder severity, genetic makeup, and early environmental factors. Cox regression analyses conditioned on individual were used to compare the rate of mania 0-3 months and 3-9 months after the start of antidepressant treatment with a preceding non-treatment period.
RESULTS:
Nearly 35% of the patients were treated with antidepressant monotherapy. The increased risk of treatment-emergent mania was confined to patients on antidepressant monotherapy (hazard ratio=2.83, 95% CI=1.12, 7.19). Among patients treated with a concurrent mood stabilizer, no acute change in risk of mania was observed during the 3 months after the start of antidepressant treatment (hazard ratio=0.79, 95% CI=0.54, 1.15), and a decreased risk was observed during the period 3-9 months after treatment initiation (hazard ratio=0.63, 95% CI=0.42, 0.93).
CONCLUSIONS:
In this national registry study, antidepressant monotherapy was associated with an increased risk of mania. However, no risk of mania was seen in patients receiving an antidepressant while treated with a mood stabilizer. The results highlight the importance of avoiding antidepressant monotherapy in the treatment of bipolar disorder.
AuthorsAlexander Viktorin, Paul Lichtenstein, Michael E Thase, Henrik Larsson, Cecilia Lundholm, Patrik K E Magnusson, Mikael Landén
JournalThe American journal of psychiatry (Am J Psychiatry) Vol. 171 Issue 10 Pg. 1067-73 (Oct 2014) ISSN: 1535-7228 [Electronic] United States
PMID24935197 (Publication Type: Journal Article, Observational Study, Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't)
Chemical References
  • Antidepressive Agents
  • Psychotropic Drugs
Topics
  • Adult
  • Affect (drug effects)
  • Antidepressive Agents (administration & dosage, adverse effects)
  • Bipolar Disorder (chemically induced, complications, drug therapy)
  • Drug Therapy, Combination (adverse effects)
  • Female
  • Humans
  • Male
  • Psychotropic Drugs (administration & dosage, adverse effects)
  • Registries
  • Young Adult

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