Introduction:

Caldas, Colombia has seen an increasing number of diagnoses of bipolar disorder.

Objective:

The present study analyzes the epidemiological profile for bipolar disorder in Caldas between the years 2010 and 2015.

Materials and methods:

The data base of the Dirección Territorial de Salud de Caldas was consulted for cases of bipolar disorder. The incidence and prevalence for bipolar disorder was established, and a comparison by each subtype of bipolar disorder was performed.

Results:

The prevalence for bipolar disorder in Caldas was 0.03% for the general population, and 0.08% for cases older than 18 years, which reflects an increment of 0.10% in 2015 for the general population and 0.22% for those patients older than 18 years. The incidence was determined by an increment in the number of patients, from 342 in 2010 to 969 in 2015.

Conclusions:

An increasing number of patients between 2010 and 2105 were observed, probably due to sociocultural problems, epigenetic causes or prescription practices such as off label practices.

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