Evolution of bipolar disorder over 12 years in a psychiatric hospital

Introduction Bipolar disorder is a leading cause of hospitalization in psychiatric hospitals. It is known that early detection of bipolar disorder is associated with a better prognosis. Objectives The aim of this study is to conduct a demographic analysis of patients hospitalized for bipolar disorder in a single center between 2003 to 2014. Methods Retrospective cohort study of 1230 patients admitted with bipolar disorder diagnosis from 2003 to 2014 at Centre Assistencial Emili Mira i Lopez of Parc Salut Mar of Barcelona. We divided the study in two periods: 2003–2008 and 2009–2014. We analyzed the following variables: frequency of admissions, age, sex and days of hospital stay, comparing both periods. Chi-square test for categorical variables and Student t test for quantitative variables were applied. Results The mean ages at the first and second period are 52 and 47, respectively ( P Conclusions Despite the large number of patients in the study, there are limitations, such as being a retrospective study and not being adjusted for confounding factors. The average age of patients in the second period is lower than in the first. This could suggest an improvement in early detection of bipolar disorder in the last years. Further research is needed to confirm this hypothesis.