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Background: Lithium is the best documented maintenance treatment in bipolar disorder, but its use varies considerably across and within countries. It is not known whether regional differences in lithium prescription rates translate to differing regional outcomes. Aims: To estimate associations between county specific lithium prescription rates and county specific recurrence odds of bipolar disorder in Sweden. Method: Data from 14,616 patients with bipolar I disorder, bipolar II disorder, or bipolar disorder not otherwise specified were extracted from the Swedish national quality assurance register for bipolar disorders (BipoläR). Lithium prescription frequencies were calculated for 21 counties. Logistic regression analyses were run adjusted for confounders, with any type of recurrence as primary outcome, and incident elated and depressive episodes as secondary outcomes. Subsets of patients with bipolar I, II and not otherwise specified disorder were also analysed separately. Results: Lithium prescription rates for populations with all bipolar subtypes ranged across counties from 37.7 to 84.9% (mean 52.4%). Higher regional prescription rates were significantly associated with lower rate of any type of recurrence. The association was stronger when bipolar I disorder was analysed separately. Conclusions: The advantages for lithium use long acknowledged for bipolar I disorder are also seen for the rest of the bipolar spectrum. Results suggest that population level outcomes of bipolar disorder could be improved by increasing the number of patients using lithium. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

BackgroundClinical trials have examined the efficacy of drugs to prevent relapse in patients with bipolar disorder, however, their design often limits generalisation to routine clinical practice.AimsTo estimate the effectiveness of drugs used for maintenance treatment in bipolar disorder.MethodWe used national registers to identify 35 022 individuals diagnosed with bipolar disorder and information on lithium, valproate, carbamazepine, lamotrigine, quetiapine and olanzapine treatment from 2006 to 2009. The main outcome was psychiatric hospital admissions. We used stratified cox regression to compare periods on and off medication within the same individual.ResultsMedication with lithium, valproate, lamotrigine, olanzapine and quetiapine was associated with reduced rates of admission to hospital. Lithium was more effective than quetiapine and olanzapine. The effects of specific drugs depended on the polarity of the mood episode.ConclusionsOur findings complement results from randomised controlled trails, but suggest that lithium is more effective than both quetiapine and olanzapine in routine clinical practice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article describes population-based longitudinal studies and systematic review which determined the relationship between bipolar disorder and the commission of violent crimes like homicide, assault and robbery. It notes that the study covers the hospital discharge diagnoses, sociodemographic information and violent crime in Sweden in January 1, 1973-December 31, 2004. Results show that a violent risk assessment and management in patients with bipolar disorder and substance abuse comorbidity are required.

A number of reports have linked consumption of selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) with suicide by violent methods. We aimed to determine whether suicides with postmortem evidence of SSRI consumption are more likely to have used violent methods compared with suicides with no detectable antidepressants. Blood samples from all suicides in Sweden during 1992-2004 were examined. Suicides were classified into those who died by violence and nonviolent (self-poisoning) methods using information from police records and autopsy. In addition, we investigated proportions of violent suicide in individuals who died with detectable levels of tricyclic and other antidepressants. The sample consisted of 14,691 suicides. Of the 1958 suicides with detectable levels of SSRIs, 1247 were by violent means (63.7%) compared with 7835 of 11,045 suicides (70.9%) in antidepressant-free group (chi2(1) = 7.6; P < 0.01). [corrected] When subdivided by gender and age-bands, we found specific groups with significantly lower proportions of violent suicides compared with the antidepressants-free group, including men aged 15-24 years.

We determined the rates of suicide in two consecutive time intervals of low and high selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor (SSRI) prescribing for men and women with mood disorders, who were at relatively high risk of suicide, in a discharged hospitalized sample. High quality Swedish national registers were cross-linked to estimate rates of suicide. The results were stratified by three age-bands, and rates of comorbid substance misuse were explored. These were compared with general population suicide rates. There were 1606 suicides in discharged patients with mood disorders. Suicide rates decreased for all women during 1989-94 and 1995-2000 [odds ratio (OR) = 0.74, 95% confidence interval (CI) = 0.64-0.85] and a trend was found towards lower rates in men (OR = 0.89, 95% CI = 0.78-1.02). Approximately 90% of suicides occurred in those aged over 40 years; thus, the inpatient sample lacked the power to discriminate clear effects in the younger age groups. There was no increase or decrease in the rates of substance use disorders in patients who committed suicide. There were 20 851 suicides in the general population during 1989-2000. Suicide rates were lower at all ages for men and women in the general population in the interval of high SSRI prescribing. We conclude that there is no evidence from this study of an increase in suicide rates following the introduction of SSRIs in the general population or in a high-risk inpatient sample.