Sex differences in bipolar affective disorder: neuroleptic dosage variance.

Bipolar affective disorder in men and women often differs in prevalence, age of onset, phenomenology, and longitudinal course. A study of 112 bipolar patients, comprising 72 women and 40 men who were discharged from an acute inpatient setting on antipsychotic drugs, is reported. Higher mean discharge neuroleptic doses were prescribed to men below the age of 40 and to women above the age of 40. The clinical implications of higher dosing patterns are discussed.