Research: Long‐Acting Injectables: A Strategy to Mitigate Nonadherence in Bipolar Disorder

Despite our best efforts, partial or nonadherence to treatment is common in bipolar disorder. Varying definitions of nonadherence make a clear prevalence difficult to determine, but a recent nationwide bipolar disorder cohort study identified rates of nonadherence to treatment to be as high as 60%, with a mean prevalence of 40% [1]. The study included > 33,000 individuals with bipolar disorder, and approximately 60% were nonadherent at least once during the monitoring period. This begs the question, why? Nonadherence to pharmacologic treatment is not unique to bipolar disorder, but rates are notoriously high in mental health conditions. Reasons are multifactorial but include the number of comorbidities, young age, co‐occurring substance use disorders, limited primary support system, psychotic symptoms, intensity of manic symptoms, and limited insight, amongst others [1, 2].