Predominant previous polarity as an outcome predictor in a controlled treatment trial for depression in bipolar I disorder patients

Abstract

Introduction: We hypothesized that predominant episode-polarity would predict response to treatment of depressive episodes in bipolar I disorder (BPD) patients with treatment in a placebo-controlled trial, in the sense that patients with manic predominant polarity (PM) would respond better than patients with depressive predominant polarity (PD). Method: This post-hoc analysis of a published trial examined outcomes of 788 depressed (MADRS score ≥ 20) adult BPD patients with baseline and follow-up assessments, according to their predominant polarity based on previous recurrences of mania-hypomania vs. depression in ≥ 2:1 excess. Patients (total = 833) were randomized to an 8-week trial of trea..