Increased risk of hyperlipidemia in patients with bipolar disorder: a population-based study

We conducted this nationwide study to examine the epidemiology of hyperlipidemia among Taiwanese patients with bipolar disorder.

We used a random sample of 766,427 subjects who were ≥18 years old in 2005. Subjects with at least one primary diagnosis of bipolar disorder were identified. Individuals with a primary or secondary diagnosis of hyperlipidemia or medication treatment for hyperlipidemia were also identified. We compared the prevalence of hyperlipidemia in patients with bipolar disorder with the general population in 2005. Furthermore, we investigated this cohort from 2006 to 2010 to detect the incident cases of hyperlipidemia.

The prevalence of hyperlipidemia in patients with bipolar disorder was higher than that of the general population [13.5% vs. 7.9%; odds ratio, 1.75; 95% confidence interval (CI), 1.52-2.02] in 2005. The average annual incidence of hyperlipidemia in patients with bipolar disorder was also higher than that of the general population (4.37% vs. 2.55%; risk ratio, 1.66; 95% CI, 1.47-1.87) from 2006 to 2010.

Patients with bipolar disorder had a higher prevalence and incidence of hyperlipidemia compared with the general population. Patients with bipolar disorder coexisting hypertension exhibited a higher likelihood of hyperlipidemia.