Change in metabolic parameters in bipolar disorder: A retrospective-to-current evaluation design

There is limited longitudinal data on prevalence of metabolic disturbances in patients with bipolar disorder (BD).

To compare the prevalence of metabolic markers in patients with BD at two different times.

The study participants were assessed at two time points and we used retrospective-to-current evaluation design. The International Diabetes Federation's Consensus Criteria were used to assess the metabolic syndrome (MetS) in seventy-four BD patients at baseline and at least a year following the baseline examination.

Participants had an average age of onset of 28.24 years and the mean age at the time of assessment at follow-up was 44.08 years. Most participants were men, from urban locality, married, and unemployed. Approximately one-third of the participants (37.8%) at the baseline assessment and 63.5% at the follow-up evaluation after about 4 years of baseline assessment met the MetS criteria. The most frequent metabolic abnormality was abnormal waist circumference (WC) at both assessments, and when compared to the baseline assessment, a follow-up assessment revealed a significant increase in weight, body mass index, WC, fasting blood glucose, HbA1C, triglycerides, very low-density lipoprotein (VLDL), and prevalence of diabetes mellitus. Diabetes mellitus was shown to have an annual incidence of 2.42%, and the same for hypertension was 5.05%, and and that for dyslipidemia was 4%.

Over a 4-year follow-up, there has been a noticeable increase in the prevalence of metabolic parameters and MetS. All this demand careful observation and taking these things into account when selecting drugs.