ArticleBipolar disorders2019
Compliance with the guidelines for laboratory monitoring of patients treated with lithium: A retrospective follow-up study among ambulatory patients in the Netherlands.
Article in Bipolar disorders, 2019. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 13 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
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Who cites it
13 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 15 citations in OpenAlex.
- Towards a Safe and Effective Lithium Therapeutic Range for Older Adults With Bipolar Disorder: An ISBD Task Force Systematic Review.Bipolar disorders · 2026Pooled it
- Electronic Health Record-Nested Reminders for Serum Lithium Level Monitoring in Patients With Mood Disorder: Randomized Controlled Trial.Journal of medical Internet research · 2023Trial
- Pharmacological Management, Safety, and Outcomes in Bipolar Disorder: An Integrated Narrative Review of Clinical and Translational Evidence.Neuropsychopharmacology reports · 2026Review
- Early health economic assessment of eLiActa neuropsychiatrica · 2026Article
- The Effect of COVID-19 Pandemic Restrictions on Laboratory Monitoring of Lithium Treated Outpatients in the Netherlands: A Controlled Interrupted Time Series Analysis.Pharmacoepidemiology and drug safety · 2026Article
- Article
- Lithium Point-of-Care Testing to Improve Adherence to Monitoring Guidelines and Quality of Maintenance Therapy: Protocol for a Randomised Feasibility Trial.Pharmaceuticals (Basel, Switzerland) · 2025Article
- Do Patients Comply With 12-h Lithium Blood Level Timing? Findings From a Controlled Clinical Trial and a Real-World Clinical Setting.Bipolar disorders · 2025Article
- Prescribing lithium for the management of persons suffering from bipolar disorders: expert consensus based on a Delphi study.International journal of bipolar disorders · 2025Article
- Provider Perspectives on the Current Use of Lithium Medications and Lithium Monitoring Practices for Psychiatric Conditions.Neuropsychiatric disease and treatment · 2022Article
- Predicting Serum Levels of Lithium-Treated Patients: A Supervised Machine Learning Approach.Biomedicines · 2021Article
- Monitoring of Adverse Drug Reaction-Related Parameters in Children and Adolescents Treated With Antipsychotic Drugs in Psychiatric Outpatient Clinics.Frontiers in psychiatry · 2021Article
- Compliance with the guidelines for laboratory monitoring of patients treated with lithium: A retrospective follow-up study among ambulatory patients in the Netherlands.Bipolar disorders · 2019Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
7 authors at 4 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
objectivesLaboratory monitoring of patients using lithium is important to prevent harm and to increase effectiveness. The aim of this study is to determine compliance with the guidelines for laboratory monitoring of patients treated with lithium overall and within subgroups.
methodsPatients having at least one lithium dispensing for 6 months or longer between January 2010 and December 2015 were identified retrospectively using data from the Dutch PHARMO Database Network. Laboratory monitoring was defined as being compliant with the Dutch Multidisciplinary Clinical Guideline Bipolar Disorders when lithium serum levels, creatinine and thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH) had been measured at least every 6 months during lithium use.
resultsData were analyzed from 1583 patients with a median duration of 7- to 6-months period of lithium use. Results indicated that patients had been monitored over 6-month period for lithium serum levels 65% of the time, for creatinine 73% of the time and for TSH 54% of the time. Just over one seventh (16%) of patients had been monitored in compliance with the guidelines for all three parameters during total follow-up. Especially males, patients aged below 65 years, patients receiving prescriptions solely from general practitioners, prevalent users of lithium, patients without interacting co-medication, and patients without other days with laboratory measurements had been monitored less frequently in compliance with the guidelines.
conclusionsA considerable proportion of patients had not been monitored in accordance with the guidelines. Further research is needed to understand the reasons for noncompliance and to implement strategies with the ultimate goal of optimizing safety and effectiveness for patients treated with lithium.
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