“The level of proof is not sufficient”, judges a psychiatrist

This test has been available on medical prescription since April 1. It costs nearly 900 euros and is not reimbursed by social security.

The first blood test to diagnose bipolar disorder was put on the market on Monday April 1 in France, reports France Culture. Called MyEDIT-B, this test is available on medical prescription. It costs nearly 900 euros and is not reimbursed by social security. Marketed by the Alcediag laboratory, it helps avoid diagnostic errors, particularly between bipolarity and depression, the symptoms of which are similar. According to the professional association, PositiveMinders, more than 40% of people diagnosed as depressed actually suffer from bipolarity in France.

This test is presented as a major step forward, but some health professionals, notably the French Association of Biological Psychiatry and Neuropsychopharmacology, have some reservations. They fear that the studies of this test are not sufficiently thorough, like Boris Chaumette, psychiatrist and researcher at Inserm (National Institute of Health and Medical Research), who judges the marketing of This test is still premature: “The level of proof is not sufficient. There was a study which was published directly by the company which markets it [mais] there has not yet been any large-scale replication.”

A diagnosis delay of 10 years on average

The researcher explains that there is “many studies that show results that can be falsely positive” and that to be sure that this test is valid, “it must be replicated in independent cohorts. For the moment this has not been done and therefore we cannot recommend it”. For Boris Chaumette, “we are putting the cart before the horse a little”.

“We market something without being absolutely certain of its reliability and we ask patients to pay.”

Boris Chaumette, psychiatrist and researcher at Inserm

at France Culture

In addition to this, the psychiatrist emphasizes that “the sensitivity and specificity of the test”, either “the chance to diagnose the right people and not to go overboard”, is located “around 80%”, according to the study, a figure similar to traditional diagnostic techniques carried out in psychiatric departments. “If we look at what is done using clinical scales – so we ask questions to patients – we have approximately the same success rate. We therefore do not very clearly see how this test will help with additional diagnosis “, he concludes. According to the FondaMental association, between 650,000 and 1,600,000 people suffer from bipolar disorder in France and are diagnosed with an average delay of 10 years.