The association of major depressive episode and personality traits in patients with fibromyalgia

INTRODUCTION: Personality traits have been associated with primary depression. However, it is not known whether this association takes place in the case of depression comorbid with fibromyalgia. OBJECTIVE: The authors investigated the association between a current major depressive episode and temperament traits (e.g., harm avoidance). METHOD: A sample of 69 adult female patients with fibromyalgia was assessed with the Temperament and Character Inventory. Psychiatric diagnoses were assessed with the Mini-International Neuropsychiatric Interview severity of depressive symptomatology with the Beck Depression Inventory, and anxiety symptomatology with the IDATE-state and pain intensity with a visual analog scale. RESULTS: A current major depressive episode was diagnosed in 28 (40.5 percent) of the patients. They presented higher levels of harm avoidance and lower levels of cooperativeness and self-directedness compared with non-depressed patients, which is consistent with the Temperament and Character Inventory profile of subjects with primary depression. However, in contrast to previous results in primary depression, no association between a major depressive episode and self-transcendence was found. CONCLUSIONS: The results highlight specific features of depression in fibromyalgia subjects and may prove important for enhancing the diagnosis and prognosis of depression in fibromyalgia patients.

Importance of retardation and fatigue/interest domains for the diagnosis of major depressive episode after stroke: a four months prospective study / Lentificação e fadiga/interesse no diagnóstico do episódio depressivo maior após o acidente vascular cerebral: um estudo prospectivo de quatro meses

OBJECTIVE: Post-stroke major depressive episode is very frequent, but underdiagnosed. Researchers have investigated major depressive episode symptomatology, which may increase its detection. This study was developed to identify the depressive symptoms that better differentiate post-stroke patients with major depressive episode from those without major depressive episode. METHOD: We screened 260 consecutive ischemic stroke patients admitted to the neurology clinic of a university hospital. Seventy-three patients were eligible and prospectively evaluated. We assessed the diagnosis of major depressive episode using the Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-IV and the profile of depressive symptoms using the 31-item version of the Hamilton Depression Rating Scale. For data analysis we used cluster analyses and logistic regression equations. RESULTS: Twenty-one (28.8 percent) patients had a major depressive episode. The odds ratio of being diagnosed with major depressive episode was 3.86; (95 percent CI, 1.23-12.04) for an increase of one unit in the cluster composed by the domains of fatigue/interest and retardation, and 2.39 (95 percent CI, 1.21-4.71) for an increase of one unit in the cluster composed by the domains of cognitive, accessory and anxiety symptoms. The domains of eating/weight and insomnia did not contribute for the major depressive episode diagnosis. CONCLUSION: The domains of retardation and interest/fatigue are the most relevant for the diagnosis of major depressive episode after stroke.

OBJETIVO: O episódio depressivo maior após acidente vascular cerebral é muito frequente, mas é subdiagnosticado. Pesquisas têm investigado a sintomatologia do episódio depressivo maior pós-acidente vascular cerebral, o que pode facilitar sua identificação. Este estudo foi desenvolvido para identificar os sintomas depressivos que melhor diferenciam pacientes com episódio depressivo maior daqueles sem episódio depressivo maior após o acidente vascular cerebral. MÉTODO: Foram triados consecutivamente 260 pacientes com acidente vascular cerebral admitidos à enfermaria de neurologia de um hospital universitário, dos quais 73 pacientes foram acompanhados. Para investigar o diagnóstico de episódio depressivo maior foi utilizada a Entrevista Clinica Estruturada para DSM-IV e para a sintomatologia depressiva a Escala de Avaliação para Depressão de Hamilton, versão 31 itens. Para a análise dos dados foi utilizada a análise de clusters e regressão logística. RESULTADOS: Vinte e um (28,8 por cento) pacientes tiveram episódio depressivo maior. O odds ratio para o diagnóstico de episódio depressivo maior foi 3,86; (95 por cento IC, 1,23-12,04) para um aumento de uma unidade no cluster dos domínios interesse/fadiga e lentificação, e 2,39 (95 por cento IC, 1,21-4,71) para um aumento de uma unidade no cluster de domínios de sintomas cognitivos, acessórios e ansiedade. Os domínios apetite/peso e insônia não contribuíram para o diagnóstico de episódio depressivo maior. CONCLUSÃO: Os domínios de lentificação e interesse/fadiga são os mais relevantes para o diagnóstico do episódio depressivo maior após acidente vascular cerebral.

Recognition of depressive symptoms by physicians

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the recognition of depressive symptoms of major depressive disorder (MDD) by general practitioners. INTRODUCTION: MDD is underdiagnosed in medical settings, possibly because of difficulties in the recognition of specific depressive symptoms. METHODS: A cross-sectional study of 316 outpatients at their first visit to a teaching general hospital. We evaluated the performance of 19 general practitioners using Primary Care Evaluation of Mental Disorders (PRIME-MD) to detect depressive symptoms and compared them to 11 psychiatrists using Structured Clinical Interview Axis I Disorders, Patient Version (SCID I/P). We measured likelihood ratios, sensitivity, specificity, and false positive and false negative frequencies. RESULTS: The lowest positive likelihood ratios were for psychomotor agitation/retardation (1.6) and fatigue (1.7), mostly because of a high rate of false positive results. The highest positive likelihood ratio was found for thoughts of suicide (8.5). The lowest sensitivity, 61.8%, was found for impaired concentration. The sensitivity for worthlessness or guilt in patients with medical illness was 67.2% (95% CI, 57.4-76.9%), which is significantly lower than that found in patients without medical illness, 91.3% (95% CI, 83.2-99.4%). DISCUSSION: Less adequately identified depressive symptoms were both psychological and somatic in nature. The presence of a medical illness may decrease the sensitivity of recognizing specific depressive symptoms. CONCLUSIONS: Programs for training physicians in the use of diagnostic tools should consider their performance in recognizing specific depressive symptoms. Such procedures could allow for the development of specific training to aid in the detection of the most misrecognized depressive symptoms.

Depressão maior em pacientes com dor torácica não cardíaca: quem vai tratar? / Major depression in patients with non-cardiac chest pain: who is going to treat?

OBJETIVO: Investigar a presença de transtornos psiquiátricos em pacientes com dor torácica de origem não cardíaca que não respondem aos tratamentos regulares. MÉTODO: Dezoito pacientes com dor torácica sem origem cardíaca e considerados por seus clínicos como não respondentes aos tratamentos regulares instituídos foram avaliados por um psiquiatra treinado. As entrevistas foram realizadas com base no Present State Examination e os diagnósticos psiquiá-tricos, de acordo com os critérios do Manual de Diagnóstico e Estatística da Associação Psiquiátrica Americana, 3ª Edição Revisada (DSM-III-R). RESULTADOS: Depressão maior no momento da avaliação foi diagnosticada em 6 (30 por cento) pacientes, somatização em 1 (6 por cento) e transtorno do pânico em 1 (6 por cento) paciente. Sete pacientes estavam recebendo antidepressivos tricíclicos com doses < 75 mg/dia. CONCLUSÕES: A baixa dose de ADTs usadas para o tratamento da dor nesses pacientes pode ter melhorado parcialmente os sintomas depressivos, tornando mais difíceis o diagnóstico e o tratamento apropriado(s) da depressão e, assim, contribuindo para a persistência da dor e outras queixas. As futuras pesquisas deverão focalizar a eficácia do tratamento da depressão nesses pacientes e o impacto deste no alívio da dor torácica não cardíaca.

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the presence of psychiatric disorders in patients with chest pain not responsive to treatment. METHOD: We evaluated 18 patients judged by their physicians to have a chest pain not responsive to usual treatment, which included anti-pain medicines and investigation and treatment of possible etiological causes such as coronary artery disease, and gastroesophageal reflux disease. A psychiatrist interviewed the patients using the Present State Examination and made the diagnosis based on the DSM-III-R criteria. Current major depression was diagnosed in 6 (30 percent) patients, somatization in 1 (6 percent) and panic disorder in 1 (6 percent) patient. Seven patients were receiving tricyclics antidepressant with doses > 75 mg/day. DISCUSSION: Patients were receiving doses of tricyclics antidepressants efficacious for pain but not for major depression. It is possible that the low dose of antidepressants used to treat pain may partially ameliorate depressive symptoms, making the appropriate diagnosis and treatment of major depression even more difficult, consequently contributing to the persistence of pain and other complains. Considering the wide alternatives to effectively treat depression, a focus on detection and treatment of major depression in patients with chest pain is warranted by clinicians and researchers.