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. 2000 Jan;25(1):53–57.

Early- versus late-onset bipolar II disorder.

F Benazzi 1
PMCID: PMC1407699  PMID: 10721685

Abstract

OBJECTIVE: To compare the clinical features and the outcome between patients with early- and late-onset bipolar II disorder. DESIGN: Case series. SETTING: Outpatient private practice. PATIENTS: One hundred and seventy-nine consecutive outpatients with bipolar II disorder presenting for treatment of a major depressive episode. OUTCOME MEASURES: Duration of illness, severity of depression, recurrences, psychosis, chronicity, atypical features and comorbidity. RESULTS: Patients with early-onset (before 20, 25 or 30 years of age) bipolar II disorder had a significantly longer duration of illness and more recurrences compared with patients with late-onset (after 20, 25 or 30 years of age) bipolar II disorder. All other variables were not significantly different between the 2 groups. CONCLUSIONS: Indicators of worse outcome (severity of depression, psychosis, chronicity, comorbidity) were not significantly different between patients with early- and late-onset bipolar II disorder.

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Selected References

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