The AREDOC project and its implications for the definition and measurement of the bipolar disorders: A summary report

Judging that the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (5th ed.) criteria for defining mania/hypomania (and thus bipolar I/II disorders, respectively) would benefit from review, we formed an expert taskforce to derive modified criteria for consideration. The aim of this paper is to summarise the component stages and detail the final recommended criteria.

We first sought taskforce members' views on the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders criteria and how they might be modified. Next, members recruited patients with a bipolar I or II disorder, and who were asked to judge new definitional options and complete a symptom checklist to determine the most differentiating items. The latter task was also completed by a small comparison group of unipolar depressed patients to determine the mood state items that best differentiate unipolar from bipolar subjects. Subsequent reports overviewed analyses arguing for bipolar I and II as being categorically distinct and generated empirically derived diagnostic criteria.

Alternatives to all the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (5th ed.) criteria were generated. Modifications included recognising that impairment is not a necessary criterion, removing hospitalisation as automatically assigning bipolar I status, adding an irritable/angry symptom construct to the symptom list, deleting a mandatory duration period for manic/hypomanic episodes, and requiring a greater number of affirmed symptoms for a bipolar diagnosis to manage the risk of overdiagnosis. Granular symptom criteria were identified by analyses and constructed to assist clinician assessment. A potential bipolar screening measure was developed with analyses showing that it could clearly distinguish bipolar versus unipolar status, whether symptom items were assigned as having equal status or weighted by their quantified diagnostic contribution.

While requiring further validation, we suggest that the revised criteria overcome several current Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (5th ed.) limitations to defining and differentiating the two bipolar sub-types, while still respecting and preserving the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders template. It will be necessary to determine whether the bipolar screening measure has superiority to currently accepted measures.