The Prechter Research Program has recently published an updated cohort profile manuscript in the International Journal of Epidemiology. In addition to listing out all the data measurements and biological samples available for sharing and an updated demographics table of our member-participants, the update includes the latest key findings since the last cohort profile publication, five years ago.
Compared with other large bipolar disorder (BD) research cohorts, the Prechter cohort covers a longer time, 17 years, and collects more frequent measures (every 2 months). Research in the Heinz C. Prechter Bipolar Longitudinal Study of Bipolar Disorder has evolved in two main complementary directions: (i) the long-term outcomes patterns, including life- time effects of the temperament, behaviors, sleep, life story, outcomes, and disease determinants of BD; and (ii) a focus on the functional, physical, emotional, molecular, and neurocognitive aspects of the disorder. Additional new areas of research focus on longitudinal time-series studies emphasizing the high variability of symptoms and outcomes within BD.
Efforts are ongoing to maintain the engagement of participants as well as to expand and diversify the ethnic and racial backgrounds of the cohort participants. We welcome data requests for all clinical, longitudinal, biological and DNA samples. Diagnostic evaluations, `omics data and longitudinal measures and outcome data, including coded subsets of the PRIORI speech data sets, are available via request at [email protected] conditional on data-use agreement. Data can be shared in an itemized flat file format, or a data analyst may be available for collaboration who can provide aggregate summaries as demonstrated in other global collaborations.