Differences of Clinical Characteristics and Phenotypes between Prepubertal- and Adolescent-Onset Bipolar Disorders.
10.3346/jkms.2010.25.6.912
- Author:
Misun SONG
1
;
Huh YOON
;
Inchul CHOI
;
Sungdo David HONG
;
Yoo Sook JOUNG
Author Information
1. Department of Psychiatry, Samsung Medical Center, Sungkyunkwan University School of Medicine, Seoul, Korea. yschoung@skku.edu
- Publication Type:Original Article
- Keywords:
Clinical Characteristics;
Prepubertal;
Adolescent;
Bipolar Disorder
- From:Journal of Korean Medical Science
2010;25(6):912-917
- CountryRepublic of Korea
- Language:English
-
Abstract:
The aim of this study is to describe the clinical characteristics of prepubertal- and adolescent-onset bipolar disorder (BD) and to identify any clinical differences between patients with prepubertal- and adolescent-onset BD. We analyzed the clinical records of 53 inpatients with BD. These patients were divided into prepubertal-onset and adolescent-onset groups. We also divided the subjects into narrow, intermediate, and broad phenotypes according to the definitions proposed by Leibenluft and colleagues. Of the total sample, 16 patients (30.2%) were in the prepubertal-onset group and 37 (69.8%) were in the adolescent-onset group. Patients with prepubertal-onset BD were more likely to display an insidious clinical presentation, atypical features, and comorbid psychopathology. And the majority of the subjects, especially in the prepubertal-onset group, were classified under the intermediate and broad phenotypes. These results suggest that the clinical presentation of BD with prepubertal-onset is different from that of adolescent-onset BD. It is inferred that a significant number of patients with prepubertal- and adolescent-onset BD do not meet DSM-IV criteria for mania or hypomania from the results of this study.
