Our results suggest a high rate of lifetime concurrent anxiety disorders in bipolar disorder .
The diagnostic issues at the interface are particularly difficult because of the substantial symptom overlap .
BACKGROUND Bipolar affective disorder has a high rate of comorbidity with a multitude of psychiatric disorders and medical conditions .
Among all the potential comorbidities , co-existing anxiety disorders st and out due to their high prevalence .
AIMS To determine the lifetime prevalence of comorbid anxiety disorders in bipolar affective disorder under the care of psychiatric services through systematic review and meta- analysis .
Anxiety as a correlate of response to the acute treatment of bipolar I disorder.
OBJECTIVE Given the adverse impact of anxiety on treatment outcome in unipolar depression and the paucity of data on the role of anxiety in bipolar disorder , the authors sought to determine the effect of anxiety on the acute treatment response of patients with bipolar I disorder . METHOD The authors examined the correlates of response to the acute treatment of 124 consecutively treated patients with bipolar I disorder . Measures of anxiety included history of panic attacks and a composite variable reflecting current or past anxiety symptoms . RESULTS History of panic attacks proved to be a significant correlate of nonremission . Anxiety , as assessed with the composite variable , was associated with longer time to remission , as was the treatment of depressive versus manic symptoms and mixed versus manic symptoms . Patients with anxiety as assessed with the composite variable and patients with a history of panic attacks reported more severe medication side effects . They also required a greater number of medications , either sequentially or in combination , in order to achieve remission . CONCLUSIONS The findings suggest that anxiety is a clinical ly meaningful correlate of poor outcome in the acute treatment of bipolar I disorder
Our results suggest a high rate of lifetime concurrent anxiety disorders in bipolar disorder .
The diagnostic issues at the interface are particularly difficult because of the substantial symptom overlap .
BACKGROUND Bipolar affective disorder has a high rate of comorbidity with a multitude of psychiatric disorders and medical conditions .
Among all the potential comorbidities , co-existing anxiety disorders st and out due to their high prevalence .
AIMS To determine the lifetime prevalence of comorbid anxiety disorders in bipolar affective disorder under the care of psychiatric services through systematic review and meta- analysis .