Table 1. Cohort baseline and emergent characteristics at diagnosis of bipolar disorder, according to use or nonuse of lithium.
| Total N = 6360 (%) | Lithium Users N = 2496 (%) | Non-Users N = 3864 (%) | P5 | ||
| Age (y) | 18 to 34 | 1482 (23) | 473 (19) | 1009 (26) | |
| 35 to 49 | 1983 (31) | 811 (33) | 1172 (30) | ||
| 50 to 64 | 1626 (26) | 703 (28) | 923 (24) | ||
| 65 to 79 | 960 (15) | 402 (16) | 558 (14) | ||
| 80+ | 309 (4.9) | 107 (4.3) | 202 (5.2) | ||
| Mean (SD) | 48.8 (17) | 49.8 (16) | 48.1 (18) | <0.001 | |
| Gender | Male | 2511 (40) | 995 (40) | 1516 (39) | 0.59 |
| Female | 3849 (61) | 1501 (60) | 2348 (61) | ||
| Alcohol user 1 | 4470 (83)2 | 1846 (85) | 2624 (82) | 0.001 | |
| Smoker 1 | 3649 (61)3 | 1430 (60) | 2219 (62) | 0.16 | |
| BMI 1 | Underweight | 78. (2.2) | 23 (1.5) | 55 (2.8) | |
| Normal | 1094 (31) | 472 (31) | 622 (32) | ||
| Overweight | 1202 (34) | 533 (35) | 669 (34) | ||
| Obese | 990 (28) | 439 (29) | 551 (28) | ||
| Morbidly Obese | 127 (3.6)4 | 62 (4.1) | 65 (3.4) | ||
| Mean (SD) | 28. (6.3) | 28 (6.1) | 27.9 (6.4) | <0.001 | |
| Practice IMD 6 | 0 | 1272 (20) | 506 (20) | 766 (20) | 0.07 |
| 1 | 1005 (16) | 430 (17) | 575 (15) | ||
| 2 | 1229 (20) | 495 (20) | 734 (19) | ||
| 3 | 1385 (22) | 485 (20) | 900 (23) | ||
| 4 | 1469 (23) | 580 (23) | 889 (23) | ||
| Comorbidity (any) | 1410 (22) | 549 (22) | 861 (22) | 0.76 | |
| Cerebrovascular Disease | 286 (4.5) | 76 (3.0) | 210 (5.4) | <0.001 | |
| Cardiovascular Disease | 765 (12) | 282 (11) | 483 (13) | 0.16 | |
| Liver Failure | 14 (0.2) | 5 (0.2) | 9 (0.2) | 0.79 | |
| Diabetes | 492 (7.7) | 205 (8.2) | 286 (7.4) | 0.25 | |
| Malignancy | 197 (3.1) | 93 (3.7) | 104 (2.7) | 0.02 | |
| Hypertension | 638 (10) | 276 (11) | 326 (8.4) | 0.001 | |
| Atypical antipsychotics | 1977 (31) | 868 (35) | 1109 (29) | <0.001 | |
| Mood stabilizers | 1656 (26) | 670 (27) | 986 (26) | 0.28 | |
| Beta-blockers | 912 (14) | 434 (17) | 478 (12) | <0.001 | |
| Diuretics | 1192 (19) | 452 (18) | 740 (20) | 0.28 | |
| Ace-inhibitors | 645 (10) | 253 (10) | 392 (10) | 0.94 | |
| Paracetamol | 2648 (42) | 1218 (49) | 1430 (37) | <0.001 | |
| NSAIDS. | Long-term (>30d) | 202 (3.2) | 76 (3.0) | 126 (3.3%) | 0.001 |
1
Earliest recorded value following diagnosis, as a proportion of those in whom status is recorded.
2
15.7% of patients had missing data.
3
6.1% of patients had missing data.
4
45.1% of patients had missing data.
5
p-values: comparison of binary variables by adjusted χ2 test; continuous variables by Student’s t-test; multiple category variables by χ2 test adjusted for trend.
6
Index of Multiple Deprivation (IMD) based on practice post-code. 0 is least deprived, 4 is most deprived.