Prevalence and incidence

Worldwide incidence

What is worldwide incidence of bipolar disorder?

Incidence refers to how many new cases of bipolar disorder there are in a population in a specified time period. It is different from prevalence, which refers to how many existing cases there are at a particular point in time, or over a lifetime. Incidence is usually reported as the number of new cases per 100,000 people per year.

What is the evidence on the incidence of bipolar disorder?

Moderate quality evidence suggests an incidence rate of 6.1 per 100,000 person years. Rates were lowest in Wales (1.4) and highest in Sweden (28.5). Rates were higher in studies using population registers to determine a diagnosis than in first contact studies (studies of individuals making contact with services).

June 2020

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Last updated at: 4:27 pm, 21st April 2022
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