Bipolar Research Today is a free monthly online journal that collates and summarizes the latest research about Bipolar, including details on bipolar disorder, symptoms, treatment, depression, medication.

Can the MiniSCID improve the detection of bipolarity in private practice?

Nasr S, Popli A, Wendt B

sjnasr@msn.com

BACKGROUND: Several recent studies have re-examined the prevalence of Bipolar Disorder, raising the suspicion that it is being underdiagnosed, particularly early in the course of the disease. The MiniSCID is a screening instrument for Axis-I diagnoses. METHOD: A chart review was performed on all 1161 active patients seen in an outpatient setting. Data collected included demographic information, initial clinical diagnosis, current clinical diagnosis, MiniSCID diagnoses, and SCL-90 results. RESULTS: Of the 796 patients who had taken the MiniSCID at their initial visit, 256 have a current clinical diagnosis of Bipolar Disorder, and 540 have a nonbipolar diagnosis. They were seen over an average period of 5.3 years. The MiniSCID had a sensitivity of 0.58 and a specificity of 0.63 in predicting a current diagnosis of bipolar disorder. There are 201 patients who endorsed current or past mania/hypomania on the MiniSCID, yet have a current clinical diagnosis of a nonbipolar illness. These patients had a SCL-90 profile that was much closer to those of bipolar patients than those of unipolar patients. LIMITATIONS: The major limitation is the reliability and validity of the MiniSCID. CONCLUSIONS: There is a large group of patients who are potentially bipolar, but are not yet clinically diagnosed as such. Several factors relating to this finding are discussed. The use of MiniSCID and SCL-90 as an in-office-screening tool can improve recognition of Bipolar illness.

Published 6 June 2005 in J Affect Disord, 86(2): 289-93.
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