Interrelationships among Medication Types and Health Characteristics in Individuals with Bipolar Disorder Receiving Integrated Health Services

Integrated primary and behavioral healthcare (PBHC) programs are a recent development in the field of mental health. The purpose of these programs is to combat the sizeable health discrepancies among persons with serious mental illness (SMI), who suffer from more comorbidities and lower life expectancy than the general population. Bipolar disorder (BPD) is a common SMI diagnosis that is associated with a substantial health burden. Research has shown that Bipolar disorder (BPD) responds well to medication, but clients with BPD often struggle with adherence to a medication regimen. Side effects and other health-related factors are often cited by clients as a reason for nonadherence. This cross-sectional, descriptive study used data from 241 de-identified individuals receiving care through an integrated PBHC program to examine associations between relevant health and psychosocial characteristics and different types of medication for BPD in persons with BPD. The current study used novel coding schemes to organize and analyze psychiatric medications for BPD