Age at onset of first episode and time to treatment inin-patients with bipolar disorder

This study aimed to investigate the relationship between age at onset andtime to first pharmacological treatment in patients with either bipolar Ior II disorder. A total of 146 consecutive in-patients acutely admittedfrom the same catchment area were included. Patients were divided intofour age groups: 0–12 years (23%); 13–18 years (32%); 19–29 years (26%);and 30 years (18%). Mean age at first affective episode was 20.2 years(s.d.=11.8). This represents a similar pattern to the age at onset seenin out-patients in the USA. Early age at onset predicted a longer time tofirst pharmacological treatment (ρ =0.695, P