Two hundred and twenty BD-II acute depressed outpatients were consecutively evaluated using the Structured Clinical Interviews for Diagnostic and Statistical Manual for Mental Disorders-Fourth Edition Axis-I and II Disorders, Hamilton scales for Depression and Anxiety, Temperament Evaluation of the Memphis Pisa Paris San Diego-Auto-questionnaire-110-item, Visual Analogue Scale (VAS), Zuckerman's Sensation-Seeking Scale-Form-V (SSS-V), Barratt's Impulsivity Scale-11-item, State-Trait Anxiety Inventory modules, Severity module of the Clinical Global Impression Scale for BD, Morisky 8-Item Medication Adherence Scale (MMAS-8) and the Clinician Rating Scale (CRS). Patients were divided into non-adherent vs. treatment-adherent cases depending on MMAS-8+CRS scores.
In the TA? group, higher VAS and cyclothymic temperament scores were highly correlated (r=.699; p¡Ü.001). Those latter scores, along with SSS-V scores and the occurrence of lifetime addiction to painkiller and/or homeopathic medications available over the counter defined a ¡°therapeutic sensation seeking¡± pattern allowing to correctly classify as much as 93.9 % [Exp(B)=3.490; p¡Ü.001] of TA? cases (49/220).
Lack of objective TA measures and systematic pharmacological record; recall bias on some diagnoses; and relatively small sample size.
Stating the burden of TA in BD, additional studies on this regard are aimed, ideally contributing to enhance the management of BD itself.