# Genetic Variations Associated with Long-Term Treatment Response in Bipolar Depression
## 3 Results  
### Patient Characteristics  
Sociodemographic and clinical characteristics of the study participants are summarized in Table 1. The evaluated subjects had a mean age of 43.5 \(\pm\) 9.1 years, 65.8% were females, and 92.1% were of European descent. All patients had a diagnosis of BD with an index episode of major depression. A total of 53.9% of patients had BD type I and 44.7% BD type II. The mean age of onset was 31.2 \(\pm\) 10.7 years, and the average duration of illness was 11.9 \(\pm\) 8.6 years. Mood switch was experienced by 26.3% of the patients.  
\begin{table}
\begin{tabular}{c c} \hline \hline
**Characteristic** & \(n\) = 76 \\ \hline Gender, \(n\) (\%) & 50 (65.78) \\ \multicolumn{1}{c}{Female} & 26 (34.21) \\ \multicolumn{1}{c}{Ethnicity, \(n\) (\%)} & \\ \multicolumn{1}{c}{European} & 70 (92.10) \\ \multicolumn{1}{c}{Asian} & 1 (1.31) \\ \multicolumn{1}{c}{Hispanic} & 3 (3.94) \\ \multicolumn{1}{c}{Afro-American} & 1 (1.31) \\ \multicolumn{1}{c}{Others} & 1 (1.31) \\ \multicolumn{1}{c}{Bipolar disorder type, \(n\) (\%)} & 41 (53.94) \\ \multicolumn{1}{c}{BD II} & 34 (44.73) \\ \multicolumn{1}{c}{Data missing} & 1 (1.31) \\ \multicolumn{1}{c}{Age at sampling (years), mean \(\pm\) SD} & 43.54 \(\pm\) 9.08 \\ \multicolumn{1}{c}{Age of onset of bipolar disorder (years), mean \(\pm\) SD} & 31.16 \(\pm\) 10.66 \\ \hline \hline \end{tabular}
\end{table}
Table 1: Demographic and clinical characteristics of the study population.  
Pations were prescribed an average of 4.5 \(\pm\) 1.4 medications for their index episode. The most prescribed medications for treating the IE were lithium, lamotrigine, and valpro among mood stabilizers; selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs), and serotonin-norepinephrine reuptake inhibitors (SNRIs) among antidepressants; and quetiapine and aripiprazole among antipsychotics (Figure 2).  
Baseline severity at the onset of the IE was evaluated using a modified version of the Clinical Global Impression for Bipolar Disorder (CGI-BP-M), yielding an average score of 3.9 \(\pm\) 0.7 (overall), 4.0 \(\pm\) 0.7 (depression subscale), and 1.4 \(\pm\) 0.5 (mania subscale) (Table 2). At the end of the episode, a statistically significant improvement was observed in the CGI-BP-M depression and overall subscales (\(p\)-value \(<\) 0.001). This improvement was maintained at the enrollment visit (Figure 3).  
\begin{table}
\begin{tabular}{l c} \hline \hline
**Characteristic** & \(n\) = 76** \\ \hline Duration of illness (years), mean \(\pm\) SD & 11.91 \(\pm\) 8.64 \\ Duration of index episodes (days), mean \(\pm\) SD & 76.91 \(\pm\) 53.09 \\ Number of drugs in index episode, mean \(\pm\) SD & 4.54 \(\pm\) 1.43 \\ Mood switch after index episode, \(n\) (\%) & 20 (26.31) \\ Number of adverse effects, mean \(\pm\) SD & 0.92 \(\pm\) 1.03 \\ Medical comorbidities, \(n\) (\%) & 22 (28.94) \\ Non psychiatric comorbidities, \(n\) (\%) & 14 (18.42) \\ Other psychiatric diagnostics, \(n\) (\%) & 14 (18.42) \\ Smoking, \(n\) (\%) & 40 (52.63) \\ Cigarettes per day, mean \(\pm\) SD & 10.03 \(\pm\) 12.59 \\ Alcohol intake, \(n\) (\%) & 11 (14.47) \\ Standard drink units per day, mean \(\pm\) SD & 0.34 \(\pm\) 1.08 \\ Substance use disorder, \(n\) (\%) & 5 (6.58) \\ \hline \hline \end{tabular}
\end{table}
Table 1: _Cont._  
Figure 2: Medications for treating the index episode (_n_ = 76). MAOI: Monoamine Oxidase Inhibitor; SNRI: Serotonin-Norepinephrine Reuptake Inhibitor; SSRI: Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitor; TCA: Tricyclic Antidepressant.