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11-61 Jaideep2006
11-61 Jaideep2006
Brief Report
A diagnosis of bipolar disorder (BD) in children disorder (ADHD) and juvenile BD. Evidence
and adolescents had long been a subject of supporting a relationship between ADHD and
controversy. It is now widely recognized that BD juvenile BD comes from several sources. First,
is diagnosable in juvenile populations with existing some studies have reported a very high rate of
adult criteria (1). However, the developmental comorbid ADHD in juvenile BD patients. These
variations in the symptom manifestation are still rates range from 86% to 98% in children (4–7) and
an issue (2, 3). In the last decade there has been from 20% to 69% in adolescents (5, 8–12). Second,
considerable interest in the possibility of a rela- a few family studies of ADHD and BD have
tionship between attention-deficit hyperactivity contributed to the idea that ADHD and BD could
share common familial risk factors (13–15). Third,
neuropharmacological, neuropsychological and
The authors of this paper do not have any commercial associations neuroimaging studies have reported somewhat
that might pose a conflict of interest in connection with this manu- similar, although not specific, findings in both
script. ADHD and BD subjects suggesting either a shared
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Comorbidity of ADHD in BD
pathophysiology or a common underlying deficit views. Subjects younger than 18 years (n ¼ 38,
(16). Lastly, a follow-up study of children with 52%) were evaluated using the Missouri Assess-
ADHD reported a high rate of BD (17), but in ment of Genetics Interview for Children (MAGIC)
another longitudinal study there was no increased (25) and those 18 years and older (n ¼ 35, 48%)
risk of BD (18). were assessed using the mood disorders and
Despite the evidence from these studies, doubts psychotic symptom modules of the Structured
have been raised about the relationship between Clinical Interview for DSM-IV Axis I disorders –
ADHD and juvenile BD (16, 19). Previous studies Clinician Version (SCID-CV) (26). The SCID-CV
from this center have reported very low rates of does not have modules for ADHD, ODD, and CD.
ADHD in juvenile BD (up to 11%) raising doubts The MAGIC is a revised version of the Diagnostic
about the relationship between the two disorders Interview for Children and Adolescents (DICA)
(20–24). However, a major limitation of these (27). It is a polydiagnostic, semi-structured inter-
studies was the relatively small sample sizes with view which generates DSM-IV diagnoses. We
the exception of one chart-based retrospective preferred the MAGIC over other instruments
study (23). A high rate of ADHD comorbidity in because we were trained in using it and its previous
previous studies of juvenile BD has also been version, the DICA. The instrument covers individ-
attributed to the ascertainment bias (19), and the ual symptoms of DBD in great detail by asking
operational diagnostic overlap between ADHD questions about the frequency of their occurrence,
and BD (16). One concern is that a majority of the the settings in which they manifest, and the degree
relevant literature reports are from a few tertiary of impairment caused in academics and in rela-
hospitals in the United States and therefore, tionships with peers, teachers and family members.
external replication is required (16). In view of The MAGIC has three versions: the child version
the continuing uncertainty about the comorbidity (7–12 years), the adolescent version (13–17 years),
of ADHD in juvenile BD, this study examined the and the parent version. Subjects were assessed
rate of ADHD and other disruptive behavior using the child/adolescent version and the parent
disorders (DBD) in a relatively large sample of version was administered to the subjectsÕ parent(s).
young patients with BD who have had their first Based on the ratings of the child/adolescent and
bipolar episode before the age of 18 years. the parent versions, the clinician arrived at a final
rating of all the individual items. For adult subjects
who were assessed using the SCID, collateral
Method information was obtained from parents through a
detailed, unstructured clinical evaluation. Further,
Subjects
the Operational Criteria Checklist for Psychotic
Seventy-three subjects with BD with onset at age Disorders version 3.4 (OPCRIT) (28) was applied
18 years or earlier and current age of 25 years old to the existing clinical charts. A diagnosis of
or younger formed the sample of this study. We juvenile onset BD was made according to DSM-
used an arbitrary cutoff age of 25 years to ensure IV criteria by consensus of two clinicians (TJ &
that parents of subjects included in the study were YCJR or TJ & SS) by reviewing all the available
available for interviews and to minimize problems information from structured interview data, clin-
with recall of childhood information. The older the ical charts and the OPCRIT. Life course of BD was
patient, the information about childhood was less determined by using information from all the
reliable. The subjects were recruited in the year sources according to the Life Charting method
2002 from the Child and Adolescent Psychiatry (29). Episode polarity, episode duration, remission,
(CAP) services and an adult unit of the National relapse, recurrence, and cycling were established
Institute of Mental Health and Neurosciences using the DSM-IV definitions.
(NIMHANS), Bangalore, India. The CAP unit All the subjects were evaluated for the lifetime
caters to the needs of children younger than diagnosis of ADHD, conduct disorder (CD) and
16 years of age and those older than 16 are treated oppositional defiant disorder (ODD) by adminis-
in adult units. Written informed consent was tering both the child/adolescent and parent version
obtained from the subjects and their parents. of the MAGIC. The assessments were made when
the patients were not in an acute affective episode
to ensure cooperation and to avoid the confound-
Assessment
ing effect of the current episode on the recall of
All the subjects underwent extensive evaluation to symptoms pertaining to DBD. Patients did not
confirm the diagnosis of BD. The principal author have arousal symptoms of mania or psychotic
interviewed all the subjects using structured inter- features at the time of assessment. Adult subjects
183
Jaideep et al.
were assessed with the adolescent version of the Table 1. Sociodemographic and clinical characteristics of the sample
MAGIC since the method of elicitation of life- (n ¼ 73)
time DBD does not differ in adolescents and adults Frequency/ Percentage/
(W. Reich, personal communication). We chose mean SD
MAGIC over self-rated instruments to diagnose
Gender
DBD for two reasons. First, the purpose of this Male 27 37
study was to make lifetime diagnoses. For this, Female 46 63
MAGIC was ideal because it covers DBD Age in yearsa 16.79 3.74
symptoms, both current and lifetime, extensively. Background
Second, it was possible to obtain collateral infor- Rural 43 59
Urban 30 41
mation from the parent(s) by administering the Occupation
parent version. It is well known that parents are Student 33 45
more reliable informants than index subjects for Housewife 6 8
diagnosing psychiatric problems in children, par- Agriculture 10 14
ticularly externalizing disorders (30). Based on the Unemployed 15 21
Other 9 12
ratings of the subject and parent, the final rating of Years of education 8.03 3.11
the individual items was made by the principal Age at onset of bipolarity (years) 14.68 2.60
author. Wherever major discrepancies arose, clar- First episode polarity
ifications were sought from the parent and the Mania 51 70
subject before the final rating was arrived at. A Hypomania 2 3
Depression 17 23
final diagnosis of DBD was made by the consensus Mixed 3 4
opinion of the two clinicians (TJ & YCJR). Total number of episodes 2.58 2.28
Subjects with single manic episode 25 34
Number of weeks ill in a year 21.32 22.31
Results Comorbid lifetime DBD
Attention deficit hyperactivity 3 4
A majority of the sample was self-referred and never disorder
treated (n ¼ 58, 80%) at the time of first consulta- Conduct disorder 2 3
tion at NIMHANS. Sociodemographic and clinical Oppositional defiant disorder 8 11
characteristics of the sample are given in Table 1. Any DBD 10 14
Female subjects were overrepresented in the sample.
DBD ¼ disruptive behavior disorders.
The sample had 12 subjects (16%) with onset in a
Range ¼ 18 years; minimum 6 years, maximum 24 years.
childhood (12 years or younger). For most subjects,
their first episode was mania (n ¼ 51, 70%). There
were only three subjects with bipolar II disorder Those with comorbid DBD had earlier onset of
(4%). It is evident from the table that the rate of BD compared with those without comorbid DBD.
DBD (14%) including ADHD (4%) was very low in A low rate of ADHD in this sample is not in
this sample. None of the subjects had been previ- accordance with the findings of most previous
ously diagnosed as DBD. None were treated previ- studies that have reported rates ranging from
ously with stimulants. The subjects with any DBD 86% to 98% in children (4–7) and from 21% to
(n ¼ 10) were compared with those without DBD 69% in adolescents (5, 8–12). However, our
(n ¼ 63) using the Mann-Whitney U-test as the finding is comparable to the findings of previous
sample data was not normally distributed. Those studies from this center, which found ADHD
with DBD were younger (14.20 ± 3.05 years versus rates of 0–11% (20–24). This rate is also compa-
17.21 ± 3.69 years, U ¼ 159.5, W ¼ 214.5, Z ¼ rable to the 6–9% rate of hyperkinetic disorder in
)2.515, p ¼ 0.012), had earlier onset of BD the clinic population of this hospital (31) and
(13.30 ± 2.26 years versus 14.90 ± 2.59 years, 1.6% (urban 3.7%, rural 0.5%, slums 1.2%)
U ¼ 194, W ¼ 249, Z ¼ )1.961, p ¼ 0.05), and reported in a recent community-based study from
spent more time ill per year (40.93 ± 35.20 weeks this center (32). General population studies that
versus 18.16 ± 17.99 weeks, U ¼ 174.5, W ¼ have employed DSM-IV criteria have reported
2127.5, Z ¼ )2.288, p ¼ 0.027) than those without somewhat similar rates ranging from 5% to 10%
DBD. (33, 34).
We discuss the possibilities that may account for
the discrepancy in the rate of ADHD compared
Discussion
with other samples. The most important and often
The main finding of the study is the low rates of neglected explanation could be ascertainment bias.
ADHD, CD, and ODD in juvenile onset BD. Previous studies mostly included referred subjects
184
Comorbidity of ADHD in BD
from tertiary centers and special clinics (7). Such could be argued that the classic episodic course is
subjects could be suffering from severe forms of not typical of childhood BD, experts agree that
illness and from multiple comorbidities resulting in BD could be diagnosed in children by using DSM
obvious ascertainment bias. This means that only criteria (1). In our study, there was a typical
in a small sub-group of BD patients the comor- episodic course with clear onset of BD symptoms
bidity of ADHD could be high. In contrast, the at a much later age than the onset of ADHD. In
subjects in this study were largely self-referred, the majority of subjects, the index episode was
never treated before and were not recruited from mania with low rates of mixed and depressive
special clinical settings. Thus, it is likely that our episodes. A low rate of depression is unlikely to
sample is closer to a general population sample of be due to underdiagnosis because this has been
adolescents with BD. A related issue that could replicated in previous studies from this center
have contributed to the low rate of ADHD in our (21–23). It is possible that the early-onset BD in
study is the possibility of underreporting of mild India is somewhat phenotypically different from
ADHD. Our sample had predominantly rural that in Western countries.
subjects, and a majority of them did not attend We found a younger age at onset of bipolar
school despite their young age. Moreover, a episodes in those with comorbid DBD. This finding
substantial proportion of them were either farmers is consistent with that of previous studies (24, 37),
or unemployed. It is likely that mild ADHD does but it is preliminary and has to be viewed with
not cause much impairment in these settings, and caution because of the small number of subjects
therefore is not recognized as a problem. with DBD.
An overlap of operational diagnostic criteria The main strength of this study is the availa-
for ADHD and BD could also contribute to high bility of information from both the patients and
rates of ADHD in BD, particularly in children. their parents obtained by using structured inter-
This remains a fundamental methodological limi- views. In some studies, information was obtained
tation when ADHD is assessed in children with mainly from a parent, and this may have resulted
BD (16). Recently there have been efforts to prove in an artificial increase in the reported rates of
that higher rates of BD in children with ADHD comorbid ADHD and BD since symptoms of
are not due to artifacts from overlapping symp- both the disorders may appear essentially the
toms by removing these overlapping symptoms same to the parent (38, 39). An additional
from diagnostic procedures (35). Another strength of the study is that a clinician conducted
approach employed is to use elation and/or the interviews and the diagnoses were confirmed
grandiosity as necessary inclusion criteria to by a consensus of two psychiatrists using all the
diagnose BD (6). This is an interesting but available information. The study has certain
controversial approach (16). In the study by limitations. First, the sample included mainly
Geller et al. (6) narrower criteria are employed, subjects with adolescent-onset BD. Despite this
but the possibility of overdiagnosis of ADHD in limitation, the rate of ADHD in this sample is
BD persists because of symptom overlap. In much lower compared with the high rates report-
addition, their interpretation of behaviors that ed in other adolescent samples. Second, the
constitute ÔelationÕ and ÔgrandiosityÕ are not neces- retrospective recall of mild to moderate ADHD
sarily similar to those of others. It is possible that symptoms may not be very reliable, resulting in
differing interpretations of what behavior fulfills a possible underdiagnosis. To an extent, this was
symptom criteria also, to some extent, contributes addressed by obtaining information when subjects
to discrepancies between studies regarding ADHD were not in an acute episode. Third, our sample
and bipolar comorbidity. The subjects of Geller was overrepresented by female subjects. This may
et al. had unusually high rates of ultradian have contributed to low rates of DBD because
cycling. Aside from the fact that ultradian cycling DBD are more common in boys.
is not a well-validated concept (involving at least
365 episodes per year in which mania occurs for
Conclusion
at least 4 h at a time), it is difficult to differentiate
ultradian cycling from the affective/temperamen- The present study does not support a definite
tal instability that is part of the ADHD clinical relationship between adolescent-onset BD and
picture. Therefore, it is possible that severely ill ADHD. However, the issue needs to be examined
children with ADHD get an additional diagnosis by large, prospective, community-based studies
of mania. Additionally, the bipolar phenotype with an adequate number of subjects with child-
described in some of these studies does not fit the hood-onset BD. Replication across different cul-
classic definition of mania well (36). While it tures is essential.
185
Jaideep et al.
186
Comorbidity of ADHD in BD
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mistaken for ADHD in prepubertal children: negative. and ADHD. J Am Acad Child Adolesc Psychiatry 1999;
J Am Acad Child Adolesc Psychiatry 1998; 37: 1093–1097. 38: 1208–1209.
37. Geller B, Zimmerman B, Williams M et al. Diagnostic 39. Carlson GA. Mania and ADHD: comorbidity or confu-
characteristics of 93 cases of prepubertal and early adol- sion. J Affect Disord 1998; 51: 177–187.
escent bipolar disorder phenotype by gender, puberty and
187