DIAGNOSTIC STABILITY IN BIPOLAR DISORDER. A SYSTEMATIC REVIEW

Introduction: Bipolar Disorder (BD) is a serious and recurring mental illness. When following patients with bipolar disorder (BD) longitudinally, a diagnostic change might indicate either a progression of illness course or a prior lack of diagnostic precision. Few investigations have evaluated the impact of diagnostic stability versus its change. Material and methods: A systematic review was carried out through a bibliographic search in Pubmed, Medline and Web of Science of articles published to date. Those studies that focused on the study of the diagnostic stability of BD both in adults and in children or adolescents were selected. In addition, a review of the gray literature was carried out. Results: The initial search showed a total of 323 articles, of which eight met the inclusion criteria. We have found that bipolar disorder has higher construct validity and long-term stability than other mental disorders. the studies coincide in the stability of around 90 % or more in the diagnosis of BD in both the child and adult population. Conclusions: Bipolar Disorder in its initial phase constitutes a diagnostic and therapeutic challenge. Despite this, it is considered one of the most stable diagnostic categories in Mental Health. The absence of reliable and valid instruments for diagnosis is considered a limitation, which determines the course and evolution of the disease. For future research it is important to achieve the highest possible construct validity of the BD.