The diagnostic validity of mixed features, excluding anxiety or psychomotor agitation in mood disorders, has not yet been fully examined.
Method
PubMed and relevant English-language literature (regardless of year) were searched. Keywords were mixed or mixed state or mixed features or mixed episode and anxious or anxiety or agitation and bipolar disorder or depressive disorder or mood disorder or affective disorder.
Results
Most studies on anxiety or psychomotor agitation have included a significant correlation relevant to the “with mixed features” specifier, although it is common in both poles of mood episodes regardless of the predominant polarity. There is some confusion between the characteristic of classical mixed states and the definition of the mixed features specifier with the newly added anxious distress specifier in DSM-5, specifically, whether to include anxiety and agitation as significant characteristics. This change is of concern because a large proportion of patients with mixed features are now unspecified, and this may influence treatment planning and prognosis.
Conclusions
The findings of our review suggest that anxiety and psycho-motor agitation can be core symptoms in mood episodes with mixed features and important clinical clues for prediction of treatment effects and disease course.
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