Objectives: To summarize the evidence for efficacy from published literature of biological treatments in the continuation and maintenance phases of bipolar disorder, as well as the recommendations about different treatment options made by the working group within the Bipolar Sub-Committee of the Canadian Network for Mood and Anxiety Treatments (CANMAT).
Methods: A review of relevant published literature and proceedings of international conferences was conducted. The quality of evidence was assessed and classified according to the Periodic Health Examination criteria. Treatment recommendations of the working group were based on quality of evidence, a consensus of expert views, and the opinions of psychiatrists and family physicians from across Canada.
Results: There is overwhelming evidence for the efficacy of lithium in the prophylaxis of bipolar disorder. The evidence for carbamazepine is less robust. There are no published double-blind studies with adequate numbers of subjects treated with divalproex sodium.
Conclusions: During and at the end of the continuation phase it is recommended that mood stabilizers should remain the mainstay of therapy and that other treatments should be gradually discontinued or maintained only if there is valid reason to do so. Efficacious maintenance treatment can reduce morbidity and mortality significantly and improve patients' quality of life.