Comorbid prevalence of alcohol dependence, substance abuse, and external cause of injury in patients with bipolar disorder in a nationwide representative sample in Taiwan.

People with bipolar disorder (BD) are more than three times as likely to have alcohol abuse/dependence and about seven times as likely to have drug abuse/dependence as those in the general population. However, the prevalence of alcohol abuse/dependence is lower in Asia. In addition, substance abuse may also exacerbate impulsive behavior and risk-taking propensity in BD and increase the risk of suicide, so that patients with BD are at high risk of suicide attempts and accidents. However, few studies have used a nationwide sample with matched controls to examine the relative risks of substance abuse and external causes of injury in BD. We report our findings regarding the comorbid prevalence rates of alcohol dependence, substance abuse and external causes of injury in patients with BD in a nationwide database with matched controls. Language: en