Clinical Characteristics of Euthymic Bipolar Disorder Patients Comorbid with Alcohol and Drug Use Disorders and Psychometric Properties of the Assessment Tools

Abstract

Clinical characteristics of euthymic bipolar disorder patients comorbid with alcohol and drug use disorders and psychometric properties of the assessment tools Objective: The primary objective of this study was to identify the frequency of alcohol and drug use disorder -abuse or dependence-(ADUD) in bipolar disorder patients who were followed in a specialized mood disorders unit and to investigate the clinical characteristics of the sample. Secondary aim of the study was to evaluate the psychometric properties of the scales related with alcohol and drug use disorder among bipolar patients in remission. Methods: Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test (AUDIT), Michigan Alcoholism Screening Test (MAST), Drug Use Disorders Identification Test (DUDIT), and Drug Abuse Screening Test (DAST-10) were applied to 292 bipolar disorder patients in the euthymic state, diagnosed by using mood disorder and alcohol/drug use disorder modules of the Structured Clinical Interview Form for DSM-IV Axis I Disorders (SCID-I) and monitored in our Mood Disorders Center.Results: In our sample, frequency of bipolar disorder patients with ADUD was 6.16% (18/292). 15 of 18 patients with ADUD were men and 3 were women. ADUD in men (12.00%) was higher than in women (1.79%), and this difference was statistically significant (p<0.001). Alcohol use disorder frequency was detected as 5.14% in general (15/292), 9.60% in men (12/125) and 1.79% in women (3/167). The frequency of drug use disorder was found as 4.11% in general (12/292), 8.00% in men (10/125) and 1.19% in women (2/167). Proportion of depressive, manic, hypomanic, and mixed episodes did not differ between patients with ADUD and those without ADUD, whereas the proportion of total episodes was higher in patients with ADUD and difference was statistically significant (p=0.016).Conclusions: Frequency of bipolar disorder patients comorbid with ADUD followed up in our center was found to be lower than those reported in the literature.

Treatment of Comorbid Psychiatric Disorders with Bipolar Disorder

“…Rates of cross-sectional regional studies are lower comparing with the rates reported from international literature. In these studies, life time alcohol use rate was found to be 32%, substance use rate was found to be 14% ( 21 ), while 12-month alcohol use disorder rate in euthymic patients with BD was 5.14% and substance use disorder was 4.11% ( 22 ). In another study done in euthymic patients with BD, it was reported that current alcohol use disorder rate was 3.2% and substance use disorder was %4.9 ( 23 ).…”

Comorbid substance use disorder in bipolar disorder: A hard rock to roll on the treatment road

“…However, the information available from cross-sectional regional studies suggest lower rates than those seen in the international literature. A lifetime alcohol use rate (distinct from AUD) of 32% and a substance use rate of 14% was observed among schizophrenic patients (5), while 5.14% of euthymic bipolar patients were recorded to have AUD and 4.11% with a different SUD in another study (6). Other research of euthymic BD patients found a current AUD rate of 3.2% and a 4.9% SUD rate (7).…”