Prevalence in veterans

What is prevalence of bipolar disorder in veterans?

Prevalence quantifies the proportion of individuals in a population who have a disorder during a specific time period, while incidence refers to the number of new cases that develop in a population during a specific time period. In disorders of short duration, incidence and prevalence rates may be similar, however with disorders of long duration, such as bipolar disorder, there can be variation between the two. Current, or ‘point’ prevalence is the proportion of individuals who have the disorder at a given point in time, ‘period’ prevalence measures the proportion of individuals who have the disorder during a specified period (e.g. 1 year), a ‘lifetime’ prevalence is the proportion of individuals in the population who have ever had the disorder.

What is the evidence on prevalence of bipolar disorder in veterans?

Moderate quality evidence suggests the current prevalence of bipolar spectrum disorders in elderly veterans in the USA is around 4%.

No reviews were identified that assessed rates in veterans in other regions.

October 2021

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Last updated at: 4:41 pm, 21st April 2022
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Fact Sheet Technical Commentary
Tags:  Veterans

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