Use of the Polarity Index for the Analysis of Long-term Efficacy of Drugs used in Bipolar Disorder

Abstract

Introduction

The study gathered information in order to draw useful conclusions to describe bipolar patients and their clinical management. The data collection was conducted as part of RENDiBi epidemiological study.

Objectives

The statistical analysis of the collected data will be essential to understand the possible changes in drug treatment, through the help offered by a parameter, Polarity Index (PI), the numerical expression of the efficacy profile of a drug, very useful especially in the long-term management.

Methods

Administration of a first detection card (demographic data, medical history) and five scales (CGI-BP, Mood Insight Scale, YMRS, HDRS) and a structured interview (MINI). The parameters analyzed were: polarity prevalence, ratios efficiency (IE) (values indicating the effectiveness of treatment compared to manic components and/or depressive), treatment and PI.

Results

The degree of correlation between PI and IETot is positive and statistically significant. The correlation between PI and IEm is statistically significant; the correlation is however not significant between PI and IEd; treatment with antipsychotics alone has increased PI, while the one with mood stabilizers has lesser; treatment with antipsychotics has increased PI in patients with predominantly polarity than those with manic depressive prevailing polarity.

Conclusions

There is a correlation between PI and effectiveness on manic symptoms and it is statistically significant (as already evident in the literature). The PI is numerically higher in the treatment of the subject with manic polarity, in agreement with previous studies that associate to the more effective drugs used for the management of manic recurrences a higher PI.

Disclosure of interest

The authors have not supplied their declaration of competing interest.