Predictors of a Shorter Time to Hospitalization in Patients with Bipolar Disorder: Medication during the Acute and Maintenance Phases and Other Clinical Factors

OBJECTIVE: The present study was conducted to compare the effects of pharmacological treatments during the acute and maintenance phases of mood episodes, sociodemographic, and clinical characteristics between a shorter time to hospitalization group (<12 months) and a longer time to hospitalization group (≥12 months). METHODS: The discharge medication for the first hospitalization was considered the acute treatment and the medication used during the week prior to the second hospitalization at the outpatient clinic was considered the maintenance treatment. Additionally, the charts were reviewed to examine a variety of demographic and clinical characteristics. RESULTS: Patients in the shorter time to hospitalization group were more likely to be unmarried and/or unemployed, have had a previous hospital admission for a mood episode, and have used antidepressant during the acute phase than those in the longer time to hospitalization group. Patients in the shorter time to hospitalization group were also less likely to use olanzapine, serotonin-norepinephrine reuptake inhibitors, or mood stabilizer monotherapy as a maintenance treatment than were patients in the longer time to hospitalization group. CONCLUSION: Predictors for shorter time to hospitalization were associated with number of previous hospital admissions for a mood episode, being unmarried and/or unemployed, and antidepressant use during the acute phase.