3.2. Change from other diagnoses to bipolar disorder
Table 2 presents data the other way around as the main diagnosis
at first contact for the 210 patients who got a main diagnosis of mania/
bipolar disorder at subsequent contact periods but not at the first
contact period. A large proportion of the patients got a main diagnosis
of depressive episode or recurrent depressive disorder (22.9%) at first
discharge. However, 22.9% got a main diagnosis within F20—mainly
acute and transient psychotic disorder (14.8%) and other non-organic
psychosis (4.3%). Notably, only 1.4% got a diagnosis of schizophrenia at
first contact. A total of 19.5% got a main diagnosis within neurotic,
stress related and somatoform disorder (F40), among which the major
proportion was reaction to stress or adjustment disorder (14.8%).
For the 210 patients who got the diagnosis at later contacts, the
median time from the first diagnosis with a manic episode/bipolar
disorder back to first treatment contact within the psychiatric
service system was 0.93 years (quartiles: 0.38–2.52). This time lag
was numerically longer for boys (1.04 years (quartiles: 0.29–2.67))
than for girls (0.87 years (quartiles: 0.43–2.32)) but the difference
was not statistically significant (P¼0.9).