Initiation of the European multicentre study “bipcom” to unravel medical comorbidities in bipolar disorder

Background: Bipolar Disorder (BD) is a severe and heritable psychiatric disorder. It represents a substantial public health problem, due to its prevalence, its high degree of disability and psychiatric and somatic comorbidities, especially cardiometabolic disturbances. Such comorbidities pose a significant additive burden for patients with BD. Considering the clinical heterogeneity of these patients, a better characterization of this population is required to develop personalised treatment approaches. Objective: BIPCOM is a multicentre study funded by the EU within the ERAperMed Call, involving six centres from different countries (Italy, France, Germany, Norway, Spain, Sweden). The purpose of BIPCOM is to identify somatic comorbidities in BD patients to develop precision medicine approaches. Aims: BIPCOM aims to define the prevalence rates, risk and protective factors and the natural course of somatic comorbidities of BD patients. Those data will be integrated to develop a tool to support individualized clinical decision-making in BD. Method: BIPCOM comprises three separate clinical studies to define patient characteristics and a subsequent exploitation element. In the first study, data will be obtained from the Nordic biobanks and medical registries. In the second study, the study centres together will contribute standardized data of at least 1500 patients comprising 24 pre-specified variables (among others past and current comorbidities and treatment). Emphasis will be given to chronic somatic disorders (diabetes mellitus, metabolic syndrome, dyslipidaemia, obesity or endocrine disorders). The third study has a prospective element with in depth characterization of 400 patients including a one-year follow up with a focus on metabolic syndrome. Patients aged from 18 – 65 with a primary diagnosis of BD, who had at least one contact with mental health services in the last year will be included. A “patient schedule” will include each participant’s socio-demographic, c