Anticonvulsant Use in Older Age Bipolar Disorder in a Global Sample from the Global Aging and Geriatric Experiments in Bipolar Disorder Project: Utilisation d’anticonvulsivants pour le traitement des troubles bipolaires du sujet âgé auprès d’un échan
BackgroundAnticonvulsants are an essential treatment for bipolar disorder; however, there is relatively little known about their use in older age bipolar disorder (OABD). In this paper, which leverages a large international dataset, we aim to 1) describe the use of anticonvulsants in OABD compared to younger age bipolar disorder (YABD; ages <50 years old) and 2) explore any demographic/clinical correlates.MethodsA secondary analysis was conducted on the international data from the Global Aging and Geriatric Experiments in Bipolar Disorder project. The main objective was to report the prevalence of anticonvulsant use in OABD over 50 years old (mean age = 62.27) and the most prescribed anticonvulsant. Additional analysis explored any demographic and clinical correlates associated with anticonvulsant use. Generalized linear mixed models were used for this analysis.ResultsOf the 2,691 participants with bipolar disorder who had anticonvulsant prescribing data, 34.4% (n = 926) used anticonvulsants at the time of study. Rates of anticonvulsant prescribing did not significantly differ between OABD and YABD groups (36.7% (n = 666) vs. 29.7% (n = 260)). Anticonvulsant prescribing patterns for OABD and YABD did not significantly differ, with valproate as the most prescribed anticonvulsant. OABD anticonvulsant users had less lithium use, more antidepressant use, more rapid cycling, more mood episodes and more cardiovascular comorbidities compared to nonusers.ConclusionAnticonvulsant use was similar in OABD and YABD. A number of important clinical correlates of anticonvulsant use were identified.
Authors
- Osvaldo P. Almeida (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8689-6199)
- Tomáš Hájek (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0281-8458)
- Beny Lafer (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6132-9999)
- Bartholomeus C. M. Haarman (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9006-8863)
- Melis Orhan (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6760-2917)
- Alexandra J.M. Beunders (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9620-2579)
- Benoit H. Mulsant (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0303-6450)
- Lisa T. Eyler (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7783-8798)
- Annemiek Dols (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1964-0318)
- Vicent Balanzá‐Martínez (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7772-7396)
- Izabela Guimarães Barbosa (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4480-0195)
- Cynthia Calkin (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4673-3990)
- Sigfried N. T. M. Schouws (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0591-5405)
- Soham Rej (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3908-9124)
- Kürşat Altınbaş (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2899-0096)
- Orestes Vicente Forlenza (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6962-5899)
- Katie Bodenstein (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1956-8459)
- Myriam Lesage
- Joy Yala
- Shang‐Ying Tsai (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5662-0055)
- Ariel Gildengers (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9216-988X)
- Regan Patrick (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6421-2665)
- Martha Sajatovic (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3073-668X)
- Eduard Vieta (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0548-0053)
- J. Radua
- Kaylee Sarna (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3533-111X)
- Andrew T Olagunju (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1736-9886)
- Ashley Sutherland (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5254-9973)
- Hilary P. Blumberg (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6363-4698)
- Farren B. S. Briggs (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0903-1359)
- Jair C. Soares (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5466-5628)
- Christian Simhandl (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4803-5977)
- Paola Lavín (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0733-9261)
- Antonio L. Teixeira
- Nicole M. Fiorelli (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0005-2040-5683)
- Brent P. Forester
- Paula Nune
Institutions
- Sigmund Freud Privatuniversität Wien (AT)
- Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais (BR)
- Leiden University (NL)
- Queen's University Belfast (GB)
- Tufts Medical Center (US)
- Dalhousie University (CA)
- University Medical Center Groningen (NL)
- Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CA)
- Harvard University (US)
- University of Miami (US)
- Universitat de València (ES)
- The University of Texas at San Antonio Health Science Center (US)
- University of Groningen (NL)
- University of Pittsburgh (US)
- The University of Western Australia (AU)
- Universidade de São Paulo (BR)
- University Hospitals of Cleveland (US)
- McLean Hospital (US)
- Jewish General Hospital (CA)
- University Medical Center Utrecht (NL)
- Institute for Family Health (US)
- Yale University (US)
- University of California San Diego (US)
- Centro de Investigación Biomédica en Red de Salud Mental (ES)
- VA San Diego Healthcare System (US)
- Amsterdam Neuroscience (NL)
- Hospital Clínic de Barcelona (ES)
- GGZ inGeest (NL)
- Czech Academy of Sciences, Institute of Psychology (CZ)
- Hospital das Clínicas da Faculdade de Medicina da Universidade de São Paulo (BR)
- Amsterdam University Medical Centers (NL)
- University School (US)
- The University of Texas Health Science Center (US)
- Consorci Institut D'Investigacions Biomediques August Pi I Sunyer (ES)
- Atlas Üniversitesi
- Taipei Medical University (TW)
- Istanbul Arel University (TR)
- Case Western Reserve University (US)
- St. Joseph’s Healthcare Hamilton (CA)
- Universitat de Barcelona (ES)
- The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston (US)
- The University of Notre Dame Australia (AU)
- McMaster University (CA)
Publication Details
- Journal
- The Canadian Journal of Psychiatry
- Published
- 2025-09-22
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1177/07067437251372190
- Primary Topic
- Bipolar Disorder and Treatment
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 0.00