Older–age bipolar disorder with Dr. Martha Sajatovic

Martha Sajatovic, MD, conducts a Masterclass lecture on older-age bipolar disorder from the Psychopharmacology Update in Cincinnati. The meeting was sponsored by Global Academy for Medical Education and Current Psychiatry.

Dr. Sajatovic is professor of psychiatry and of neurology at Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland. She also directs the Neurological and Behavioral Outcomes Research Center at University Hospitals Cleveland Medical Center.

* * *

Help us make this podcast better! Please take this short listener survey: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/podcastsurveyOct2019

* * *

Conceptualizing OABD

• Older–age bipolar disorder (OABD), defined as a person aged 60 years or older with bipolar disorder, makes up one-quarter of bipolar patients. It is a heterogeneous population that includes early- and late-onset disease. Late onset is diagnosed when a person has a manic or hypomanic episode at or after the age of 50 years.
• Bipolar depression in later life has long been seen as a "special population," and the treatment has been extrapolated from larger clinical trials of younger patients.
• Late–onset bipolar disorder usually has attenuated manic episodes and depressive episodes are prolonged and severe. In OABD, the patients are more likely to have multiple morbidities, which makes medication management more complex.
• People with bipolar disorder lose 1-2 decades of life, compared with the general population.
• No medications are specifically approved by the Food and Drug Administration for bipolar disorder or bipolar depression in older adults. However, the treatment follows general geriatric psychiatry principles: Start low and go slow.

International guidelines on treating bipolar disorder

• Starting low means using half or even less of the recommended dose that a clinician would use in mixed-aged populations. Titrate slowly to allow the person time to acclimate to side effects that usually resolve. Bipolar disorder is a chronic disease, so medication adherence is paramount. Adherence can be jeopardized when a person experiences excessive side effects from the beginning of treatment.
• First-line treatment for bipolar depression in OABD include lurasidone (Latuda) or quetiapine (Seroquel) with low dosing and slow titration. This recommendation is supported by data from a post hoc analysis of the clinical trial data of lurasidone for bipolar depression.
• Lithium is also recommended and underused. The level should be lower for OABD; an appropriate target for older adults with bipolar disorder is 0.4-0.8 mEq/L, especially in people who are older and frailer.
• Lamotrigine (Lamictal) also is helpful and fairly well tolerated.
• Clinicians need to be attentive to a patient's medical comorbidities and psychosocial support to enhance adherence and improve outcomes. This approach would entail working closely with primary care clinicians and using an integrative approach as the medical comorbidities will influence the success of bipolar treatment.

References

Sajatovic M and Chen P. Geriatric bipolar disorder. Psychiatr Clin North Am. 2011 Jun 3;34(2):319-33.

Eyler LT et al. Understanding aging in bipolar disorder by integrating archival clinical research datasets. Am J Geriatric Psychiatry. 2019 Oct;27(10):1122-34.

Shulman Kl et al. Delphi survey about using lithium in OABD. Bipolar Disord. 2019 Mar;21(2):117-23.

Forester BP. Safety and effectiveness of long-term treatment with lurasidone in older adults with bipolar depression: Post hoc analysis of a 6-month, open-label study. Am J Geriatr Psychiatry. 2018 Feb;26(2):150-9.

* * *

For more MDedge Podcasts, go to mdedge.com/podcasts

Email the show: podcasts@mdedge.com

Interact with us on Twitter: @MDedgePsych