Psychosis, Bipolar Disorder May Be Predictable Years Before Disease Onset

Half of those who developed psychosis and bipolar disorder in Finland had attended Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services

TUESDAY, Sept. 13, 2022 (HealthDay News) — Half of all psychosis and bipolar diagnoses in Finland occurred in individuals who had attended Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS) during childhood or adolescence, according to a study published online Sept. 8 in World Psychiatry.

Ulla LÃ¥ng, Ph.D., from University College Dublin, and colleagues constructed a total population cohort study of all 55,875 Finns born in 1987, linking extensive register data on health care contacts from birth through age 28 years to examine whether youth attending CAMHS represent a high-risk group for psychosis if followed into adulthood.

The researchers identified 1,785 individuals diagnosed with a psychotic or bipolar disorder by age 28 years. Psychosis/bipolar disorder was diagnosed in 1.8 and 12.8 percent of individuals who had not attended CAMHS during childhood and adolescence and those with a history of outpatient CAMHS contact, respectively. Psychosis/bipolar disorder was diagnosed by age 28 years in 2.3 and 24.0 percent of individuals without a history of inpatient CAMHS admission and those with a history of inpatient CAMHS admission, respectively; the percentage was 36.5 percent for those with a history of inpatient CAMHS admission in adolescence (age 13 to 17 years). About half (50.2 percent) of all psychosis/bipolar diagnoses by age 28 years occurred in individuals who had attended CAMHS at some point in childhood or adolescence.

“This research shows the power of electronic health care registers to answer important questions about human health and disease,” a coauthor said in a statement.