A new study by Thomson Reuters has discovered that patients with bipolar disorder are “three times more likely to experience trauma or adverse reaction to treatment.” Patients with a mental illness have a greater risk for a wide range of medical conditions.

This study analyzed the insurance claims of more than 600,000 unidentified Americans.

View the entire study at http://research.thomsonhealthcare.com/treemaps/bipolarbrief.pdf.

View an interactive chart listing the risk of comorbid disorders at http://research.thomsonhealthcare.com/treemaps/OverviewBipolar.html.

The most significant findings are as follows:

Trauma or Adverse Reactions to Treatment: Patients diagnosed with bipolar disorder were 3.13 times more likely than the control group to have a trauma or adverse reaction to treatment. Approximately 7 percent of bipolar cases had at least one such episode in the two-year study period.

Neurological Episodes: Neurological conditions — such as headaches and spinal cord injuries — occurred 2.27 times more frequently among bipolar patients. Approximately one-fourth of all enrollees with a bipolar episode also had at least one episode involving the neurological system.

Female Reproduction: Conditions involving the female reproductive system — such as dysfunctional uterine bleeding and breast cancer — were 25 percent more common among bipolar patients.

“Medication use and behavioral characteristics are known to increase the risk of disease among bipolar patients, but much is still unknown about the reasons for increased rates of comorbidities among this population and ways to reduce them,” said William D. Marder, Ph.D., senior vice president and general manager for the Healthcare & Science business of Thomson Reuters and one of the study’s authors. “Our analysis underscores the urgent need for further exploration of how to best increase providers’ capacity to address, monitor and ultimately improve the psychiatric and physical health of their bipolar patients.”

For more information, visit http://research.thomsonhealthcare.com/treemaps/.

Sources:

http://news.prnewswire.com/DisplayReleaseContent.aspx?ACCT=104&STORY=/www/story/07-28-2009/0005067380&EDATE=

http://research.thomsonhealthcare.com/treemaps/

http://research.thomsonhealthcare.com/treemaps/OverviewBipolar.html

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