Mental health service use by elderly patients with bipolar disorder and unipolar major depression

Symptoms, functioning, and mental health service use were compared in older out-patients with bipolar disorder and unipolar depression. Bipolar outpat ients (n = 37, mean age = 69.7) had higher total symptom severity and posit ive symptom scores more impaired community-living skills, and earlier age a t onset of illness than patients with unipolar depression (n = 85, mean age = 70.3). Bipolar elderly patients used almost four times the total amount of mental health services and were four times more likely to have had a psy chiatric hospitalization over the previous 6 months. These findings undersc ore the need for effective services for elderly patients with bipolar disor der who account for a minority of patients with affective disorders, but us e a disproportionate amount of costly services.