Objectives: Bipolar I disorder (BPD-1) is a chronic mood disorder characterized by manic and depressive episodes that produces a substantial financial burden in the US. This retrospective chart review study compared healthcare resource utilization (HRU) among patients with depressive episodes associated with BPD-1 treated with lurasidone or cariprazine, two atypical antipsychotics approved for treatment of bipolar depression.

Methods: Data on adult patients prescribed lurasidone or cariprazine for BPD-1 depressive episodes on or after June 2019 were collected from patient medical charts by clinicians in the US in 2021. HRU after treatment initiation was assessed in terms of BPD-1-related inpatient (IP) admissions, emergency room (ER) visits, and outpatient (OP) visits at the responding clinician’s practice. Results were compared between cohorts using Chi-square and Wilcoxon rank-sum tests.

Results: A total of 107 patients taking lurasidone and 93 patients on cariprazine were included in the analysis. Patients in both groups were similar in terms of average age (lurasidone: 37 years; cariprazine: 39 years), sex (lurasidone: 48% male; cariprazine: 46% male), and time since BPD-1 diagnosis (lurasidone: 7 years; cariprazine: 8 years). Average time observed for both cohorts was 14 months. A significantly higher proportion of patients taking cariprazine experienced any BPD-1-related IP admission compared to patients on lurasidone (lurasidone: 1%; cariprazine: 9%; p<0.05). Proportions of patients with any ER (lurasidone: 3%; cariprazine: 1%; p=0.63) or OP (lurasidone: 68%; cariprazine: 81%; p=0.07) visit were not statistically significantly different between groups. Average number of OP visits was significantly higher for patients taking cariprazine (7.4) compared to those on lurasidone (5.4; p<0.05).

Conclusions: In this study, patients with depressive episodes associated with BPD-1 treated with lurasidone or cariprazine had low rates of IP and ER visits; HRU for BPD-1-related hospitalization and number of OP visits was lower for patients taking lurasidone compared to patients on cariprazine.