Rapid Cycling in Women and Men With Bipolar Manic-Depressive Disorders

OBJECTIVE: This study investigated risks for rapid cycling, as defined by DSM-IV, in women and men with bipolar disorders. METHOD: The results of 10 studies with a total of 2,057 bipolar patients were meta-analyzed by pooled contingency methods. RESULTS: The proportions of women and men among rapid-cycling cases averaged 72% and 28%, respectively, but the risk of rapid cycling was inconsistently more frequent among women (29.6%) than among men (16.5%). The mean number of episodes per year was much higher in rapid-cycling patients before and during lithium treatment but was similar in rapid-cycling men and women. CONCLUSIONS: Rapid cycling was only moderately, and inconsistently, more common in bipolar women than men.