BACKGROUND: Eating disorders (ED) and bipolar disorder (BD) share certain phenomenological similarities related to eating behavior and emotional regulation. However, despite the steady growth of research on comorbidity between ED and BD, scientific data on the joint course of these disorders remains poorly systematized.
AIM: To conduct an exploratory analysis of published data on the prevalence of various types of ED among patients with BD types I and II, taking into account gender, as well as to analyze the clinical features of the joint course of these disorders.
METHODS: The analysis was carried out in accordance with the extended PRISMA guidelines for systematic review studies. Published original studies in MEDLINE and PubMed Central that examined the prevalence and clinical features of comorbid ED and BD were analyzed.
RESULTS: As a result of the analysis of 41 selected studies, sufficiently heterogeneous lifetime prevalence rates for ED in patients with BD were found - from 2.2% to 31.1%, and lifetime prevalence rates for BD among patients with ED - from 11.3% to 68.1%. ED were nominally more prevalent among individuals with BD II and women. In addition, the presence of ED in patients with BD was associated with earlier onset, a greater number of depressive episodes, a higher level of atypical depressive symptoms, suicide attempts, as well as a higher frequency of comorbid obsessive-compulsive and anxiety disorders, addictions, and various metabolic disturbances.
CONCLUSION: Despite the high variability of results, the prevalence rates of the comorbidity of ED and BD are quite high. For this reason, screening for ED in patients with BD and vice versa has important value in accurate diagnosis and selection of the most effective therapy. Future research will need to more closely examine the patterns of comorbidity of various types of ED depending on the type of BD and sex.