The geography of a controversial diagnosis: A bibliographic analysis of published academic perspectives on 'paediatric bipolar disorder'

Abstract

Background: The hypothesis that bipolar disorder presents before puberty with atypical mania has proved to be controversial. Published academic perspectives on the validity of Paediatric Bipolar Disorder (PBD) appear to vary between the United States and the rest of the world.

Methods: We examined the perspectives of articles citing four seminal articles. The citing articles were grouped as either supportive or non-supportive of the PBD hypothesis, and the perspectives of the articles by US authors were compared with those by non-US authors.

Results: There were 787 citing articles commenting on PBD, mostly published in US-based journals. Most authors were affiliated with several US institutions. Among the 624 articles with US authorship, the majority (83%) supported PBD. Of the 163 articles by non-US authors, most (60%) supported the traditional view that bipolar disorders are rare before mid-adolescence. Published academic perspectives in favour of the PBD hypothesis are mostly concentrated in several US institutions.

Conclusion: There is majority support for PBD among citing articles from the United States, whereas the traditional perspective predominates in articles from most other countries.

Keywords: Bipolar disorder; bibliometric analysis; child psychiatry; early medical intervention; irritable mood; nosology; paediatrics; psychiatric diagnosis; transcultural psychiatry.