Abstract
Background:
Bipolar 1 disorders (BPD) are a chronic disorder with prevalence rates of up to 2.6% of the adult population or higher and appreciable direct and indirect costs. As a result, these are a concern to health authorities especially given the low age of onset. Consequently, there is a need to treat BPD patients well and improve their quality-of-life. Pharmacotherapy includes mood stabilizers and atypical antipsychotics (AAPs). AAPs have different mechanisms of action and side-effects, so treatment needs to be tailored. Asenapine in clinical trials is as effective as olanzapine, with less metabolic side-effects.
Methods:
Chitnis and colleagues assessed the cost-effectiveness of asenapine among patients in healthcare databases.
Results and Conclusion:
They showed in routine care that asenapine also reduces hospital and emergency room admissions, making it cost neutral in BPD, which is of interest to health authorities and clinicians.
Transparency
Declaration of interest
The author reports no conflicts of interest. No financial support was received for writing this editorial.