Clinical Characteristics of Pediatric Bipolar Disorder by Subtype in a Korean Inpatient Sample

Objectives：We compared the clinical presentations of manic and depressive episodes and the treatment response among children and adolescents with bipolar disorder (BD) types I and II and BD not otherwise specified (NOS). Methods：The sample consisted of 66 patients, aged between 6 and 18 years, who were admitted for BD to a 20-bed child and adolescent psychiatric ward in a university hospital located in Seoul, Korea. Results：Patients with BD type I were more likely to have lower intelligence quotients and exhibit violent behaviors during manic episodes than patients with BD type II or BD NOS and to show better treatment responses during manic episodes than patients with BD NOS. Patients with BD NOS were more likely to have an irritable mood rather than a euphoric mood during the manic phase than patients with BD type I or II and to exhibit violent behaviors during the depressive phase and chronic course than patients with BD type II. Conclusion：Pediatric BD patients are heterogeneous with respect to their clinical characteristics. Implications for the usefulness of the current diagnostic subtype categories should be investigated in future studies.