Comparative effectiveness of mood stabilizers and antipsychotics in the prevention of hospitalization after lithium discontinuation in bipolar disorder

Early use of long-acting injectable antipsychotics in bipolar disorder type I: An expert consensus

INTRODUCTION

Long-acting injectable antipsychotics (LAIs) are not routinely offered to patients living with bipolar disorder type I (BP-I), despite widespread evidence that supports their benefits over oral antipsychotics, particularly in early disease.

METHODS

A round-table meeting of psychiatrists convened to discuss barriers and opportunities and provide consensus recommendations around the early use of LAIs for BP-I.

RESULTS

LAIs are rarely prescribed to treat BP-I unless a patient has severe symptoms, sub-optimal adherence to oral antipsychotics, or has experienced multiple relapses. Beyond country-specific accessibility issues (e.g., healthcare infrastructure and availability/approval status), primary barriers to the effective use of LAIs were identified as attitudinal and knowledge/experience-based. Direct discussions between healthcare providers and patients about treatment preferences may not occur due to a preconceived notion that patients prefer oral antipsychotics. Moreover, as LAIs have historically been limited to the treatment of schizophrenia and the most severe cases of BP-I, healthcare providers might be unaware of the benefits LAIs provide in the overall management of BP-I. Improved treatment adherence associated with LAIs compared to oral antipsychotics may support improved outcomes for patients (e.g., reduced relapse and hospitalization). Involvement of all stakeholders (healthcare providers, patients, and their supporters) participating in the patient journey is critical in early and shared decision-making processes. Clinical and database studies could potentially bridge knowledge gaps to facilitate acceptance of LAIs.

CONCLUSION

This review discusses the benefits of LAIs in the management of BP-I and identifies barriers to use, while providing expert consensus recommendations for potential solutions to support informed treatment decision-making.

Discontinuation of psychotropic medication: a synthesis of evidence across medication classes

Pharmacotherapy is an effective treatment modality across psychiatric disorders. Nevertheless, many patients discontinue their medication at some point. Evidence-based guidance for patients, clinicians, and policymakers on rational discontinuation strategies is vital to enable the best, personalized treatment for any given patient. Nonetheless, there is a scarcity of guidelines on discontinuation strategies. In this perspective, we therefore summarize and critically appraise the evidence on discontinuation of six major psychotropic medication classes: antidepressants, antipsychotics, benzodiazepines, mood stabilizers, opioids, and stimulants. For each medication class, a wide range of topics pertaining to each of the following questions are discussed: (1) Who can discontinue (e.g., what are risk factors for relapse?); (2) When to discontinue (e.g., after 1 year or several years of antidepressant use?); and (3) How to discontinue (e.g., what's the efficacy of dose reduction compared to full cessation and interventions to mitigate relapse risk?). We thus highlight how comparing the evidence across medication classes can identify knowledge gaps, which may pave the way for more integrated research on discontinuation.

Identifying digital biomarkers of illness activity and treatment response in bipolar disorder with a novel wearable device (TIMEBASE): protocol for a pragmatic observational clinical study

BACKGROUND

Bipolar disorder is highly prevalent and consists of biphasic recurrent mood episodes of mania and depression, which translate into altered mood, sleep and activity alongside their physiological expressions.

AIMS

The IdenTifying dIgital bioMarkers of illnEss activity and treatment response in BipolAr diSordEr with a novel wearable device (TIMEBASE) project aims to identify digital biomarkers of illness activity and treatment response in bipolar disorder.

METHOD

We designed a longitudinal observational study including 84 individuals. Group A comprises people with acute episode of mania (n = 12), depression (n = 12 with bipolar disorder and n = 12 with major depressive disorder (MDD)) and bipolar disorder with mixed features (n = 12). Physiological data will be recorded during 48 h with a research-grade wearable (Empatica E4) across four consecutive time points (acute, response, remission and episode recovery). Group B comprises 12 people with euthymic bipolar disorder and 12 with MDD, and group C comprises 12 healthy controls who will be recorded cross-sectionally. Psychopathological symptoms, disease severity, functioning and physical activity will be assessed with standardised psychometric scales. Physiological data will include acceleration, temperature, blood volume pulse, heart rate and electrodermal activity. Machine learning models will be developed to link physiological data to illness activity and treatment response. Generalisation performance will be tested in data from unseen patients.

RESULTS

Recruitment is ongoing.

CONCLUSIONS

This project should contribute to understanding the pathophysiology of affective disorders. The potential digital biomarkers of illness activity and treatment response in bipolar disorder could be implemented in a real-world clinical setting for clinical monitoring and identification of prodromal symptoms. This would allow early intervention and prevention of affective relapses, as well as personalisation of treatment.

Lithium-discontinuation-induced treatment refractoriness revisited

BACKGROUND

Lithium is effective in the long-term treatment of bipolar disorder. Concerns have been raised about non-responsiveness after discontinuation and resuming previously effective lithium prophylaxis. We reviewed the available literature on this so-called lithium-discontinuation-induced treatment refractoriness (LDITR).

RESULTS

We found 11 case reports and six cohort studies including 403 patients addressing LDITR, and one nation-wide register study providing some additional data on LDITR. Pooling all cohort studies, the percentages of non-responders during re-treatment with lithium ranged from 3.6 to 27.7%, with an average of 17.3%. Non-responsiveness was associated with longer duration of lithium treatment before discontinuation, longer duration of bipolar disorder before start of lithium, faster tapering off lithium, and longer duration of discontinuation.

CONCLUSIONS

There may be a subgroup in whom lithium discontinuation-induced treatment refractoriness exists. However, the vast majority of people respond when lithium is restarted. Moreover, it may be necessary to continue lithium beyond the first relapses to restore long-term prophylactic efficacy.

[Lithium treatment for affective disorders in old age]

BACKGROUND

Lithium is considered the gold standard for the treatment of bipolar affective disorder for the prevention of recurrence of manic and depressive episodes and for augmentation treatment in unipolar severe depressive episodes. The indications for treatment with lithium do not differ for older or younger patients. Nevertheless, there are a number of aspects to be considered with respect to drug safety in the group of old patients.

OBJECTIVE

The aim was to give an overview of the current literature on lithium treatment in old age and from this to derive recommendations for action.

MATERIAL AND METHODS

A selective literature review on lithium treatment in old age was conducted to answer questions on drug safety, monitoring (particularly with respect to comorbidities) and potential alternatives to lithium.

RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

Lithium is an effective and, if used correctly, safe drug also in old people; however, with respect to somatic comorbidities that increase with age, special caution is required when using lithium in order to prevent nephropathy and intoxication.

[Lithium treatment for affective disorders in old age]

BACKGROUND

Lithium is considered the gold standard for the treatment of bipolar affective disorder for the prevention of recurrence of manic and depressive episodes and for augmentation treatment in unipolar severe depressive episodes. The indications for treatment with lithium do not differ for older or younger patients. Nevertheless, there are a number of aspects to be considered with respect to drug safety in the group of old patients.

OBJECTIVE

The aim was to give an overview of the current literature on lithium treatment in old age and from this to derive recommendations for action.

MATERIAL AND METHODS

A selective literature review on lithium treatment in old age was conducted to answer questions on drug safety, monitoring (particularly with respect to comorbidities) and potential alternatives to lithium.

RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

Lithium is an effective and, if used correctly, safe drug also in old people; however, with respect to somatic comorbidities that increase with age, special caution is required when using lithium in order to prevent nephropathy and intoxication.

Long-acting injectable antipsychotics for the treatment of bipolar disorder: evidence from mirror-image studies

Clinical trials and real-world data have shown that long-acting injectable antipsychotics (LAIs) might be an effective therapeutic option also for people with bipolar disorder (BD). However, complementing evidence from mirror-image studies investigating LAIs in BD is scattered and has not been systematically evaluated so far. We thus performed a review of observational mirror-image studies testing the effectiveness of LAI treatment on clinical outcomes in people with BD. Embase, MEDLINE, and PsycInfo electronic databases were systematically searched (via Ovid) up to November 2022. We included six mirror-image studies that compared relevant clinical outcomes between the 12-months after (post-treatment period) and the 12-months before (pre-treatment period) the initiation of a LAI treatment in adults with BD. We found that LAI treatment is associated with a significant reduction in days spent in hospital and number of hospitalizations. Moreover, LAI treatment seems to be associated with a significant decrease in the proportion of individuals with at least one hospital admission, even though data on this outcome were reported by just two studies. In addition, studies consistently estimated a significant reduction of hypo-/manic relapses after LAI treatment initiation, while the effect of LAIs for depressive episodes is less clear. Finally, LAI treatment initiation was associated with a lower number of emergency department visits in the year after LAI initiation. The findings of this review seem to suggest that the use of LAIs is an effective strategy to improve major clinical outcomes in people with BD. Nonetheless, additional research, based on standardized assessments of prevalent polarity and relapses, is needed to identify the clinical characteristics of individuals with BD who are most likely to benefit from a LAI treatment.