Document Type
Article
Publication Date
10-1-2022
Abstract
Objective: Some individuals with bipolar disorder (BD) experience manic and depressive symptoms concurrently, but data are limited on symptom mixity in older age bipolar disorder (OABD). Using the Global Aging & Geriatric Experiments in Bipolar Disorder Database, we characterized mixity in OABD and associations with everyday function. Methods: The sample (n = 805), from 12 international studies, included cases with both mania and depression severity ratings at a single timepoint. Four mixity groups were created: asymptomatic (A), mixed (Mix), depressed only (Dep), and manic only (Man). Generalized linear mixed models used mixity group as the predictor variable; cohort was included as a random intercept. Everyday function was assessed with the Global Assessment of Functioning score. Results: Group proportions were Mix (69.6%; n = 560), followed by Dep (18.4%; n = 148), then A (7.8%; n = 63), then Man (4.2%; n= 34); levels of depression and mania were similar in Mix compared to Dep and Man, respectively. Everyday function was lowest in Mix, highest in A, and intermediate in Man and Dep. Within Mix, severity of depression was the main driver of worse functioning. Groups differed in years of education, with A higher than all others, but did not differ by age, gender, employment status, BD subtype, or age of onset. Conclusions: Mixed features predominate in a cross-sectional, global OABD sample and are associated with worse everyday function. Among those with mixed symptoms, functional status relates strongly to current depression severity. Future studies should include cognitive and other biological variables as well as longitudinal designs to allow for evaluation of causal effects.
Keywords
bipolar disorder, depression, elderly, geriatric, mania
Language
English
Publication Title
American Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry
Grant
R01MH070902
Rights
©2022 The Author(s). This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/BY-NC-ND/4.0/), which permits non-commercial copying and redistribution of the material in any medium or format, provided the original work is not changed in any way and is properly cited.
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 International License.
Recommended Citation
Eyler LT, Briggs FBS, Dols A, Rej S, Almeida OP, Beunders AJM, Blumberg HP, Forester BP, Patrick RE, Forlenza OV, Gildengers A, Jimenez E, Vieta E, Mulsant BH, Schouws S, Paans NPG, Strejilevich S, Sutherland A, Tsai S, Sajatovic M. Symptom Severity Mixity in Older-Age Bipolar Disorder: Analyses From the Global Aging and Geriatric Experiments in Bipolar Disorder Database (GAGE-BD). Am J Geriatr Psychiatry. 2022 Oct;30(10):1096-1107. doi: 10.1016/j.jagp.2022.03.007. Epub 2022 Apr 20. PMID: 35637088; PMCID: PMC10280310.