J Korean Acad Child Adolesc Psychiatry.  2015 Dec;26(4):251-257. 10.5765/jkacap.2015.26.4.251.

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

• Park S
• Cho SC
• Kwon O
• Bae JH
• Kim JW
• Shin MS
• Yoo HJ
• Kim BN

• KMID: 2172727
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.5765/jkacap.2015.26.4.251

Abstract

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.

Keyword

Bipolar Disorder; Child and Adolescent; Clinical Characteristics; Subtype

MeSH Terms

Adolescent
Bipolar Disorder*
Child
Humans
Inpatients*
Intelligence
Irritable Mood
Korea
Seoul