Prevalence and Correlates of Bipolar Spectrum Disorder in the World Mental Health Survey Initiative

Top Cited Papers
Open Access
Publisher Website
Google Scholar
Abstract
Bipolar disorder (BP) is responsible for the loss of more disability-adjusted life-years than all forms of cancer or major neurologic conditions such as epilepsy and Alzheimer disease,1 primarily because of its early onset and chronicity across the life span. Aggregate estimates of the prevalence of BP indicate that approximately 1.0% of the general population meet lifetime criteria for BP type I (BP-I).2-7 Estimates of the lifetime prevalence of BP-II have been provided by only 1 investigation, which reported a median lifetime prevalence of 1.2%.3 A recent international review8 of both DSM-IV BP-I and BP-II in population studies yielded an aggregate cross-study lifetime prevalence estimate of 1.2%, ranging from 0.1% in Nigeria9 to 3.3% in the United States.10