TABLE 5.
Number of drugs prescribed to patients being treated for bipolar disorder, expressed as n (%).
| Acute episode | Maintenance period | ||||||
| Number of drugs | Baseline (n = 204) | 3 months (n = 173) | 6 months (n = 153) | 9 months (n = 147) | 12 months (n = 149) | χ2 | P |
| 1 | 6 (2.9) | 25 (14.5) | 20 (13.1) | 26 (17.7) | 34 (22.8) | 33.047 | 0.000 |
| 2 | 71 (34.8) | 76 (43.9) | 74 (48.4) | 69 (46.9) | 55 (36.9) | 10.199 | 0.037 |
| 3 | 74 (36.3) | 51 (29.5) | 37 (24.2) | 35 (23.8) | 39 (26.2) | 9.498 | 0.050 |
| 4 | 46 (22.5) | 11 (6.4) | 12 (7.8) | 10 (6.8) | 14 (9.4) | 35.410 | 0.000 |
| ≥ 5 | 7 (3.4) | 10 (5.8) | 10 (6.5) | 7 (4.8) | 7 (4.7) | 2.097 | 0.718 |
| Mean number (SD) | 2.9 ± 0.9 | 2.5 ± 1.0 | 2.5 ± 1.0 | 2.3 ± 1.0 | 2.4 ± 1.1 | 45.168 | 0.000 |