Subtypes of Childhood Trauma Exposure Associated with Earlier Onset and Delayed Treatment in Rapid Cycling Bipolar Disorder: A CaseControl Study

Studies on bipolar disorder (BD) have suggested that exposure to childhood trauma (CT) and rapid cycling BD (RC-BD) are associated with earlier onset and overall worse prognosis. The association between CT exposure and RC-BD in patients from low/middle-income countries has not been sufficiently characterized. Therefore, we performed a case-control study of patients with RC-BD (n = 35), patients without RC-BD (n = 35), and healthy controls (HC) (n = 105) in a low/middle-income country, Colombia, to evaluate CT exposure and RC-BD for clinical associations. We reported a significant number of patients with RC-BD exposed to physical abuse and/or sexual abuse compared with patients without RC-BD during the course of illness. In addition, CT exposure and RC-BD were associated with an earlier age of onset and delayed diagnosis and treatment. In the future, recognition of early CT exposure in populations at risk for BD may help tailor precise interventions and thus change the course of illness and worse prognosis.