Prospective Acceptability of Digital Therapy for Major Depressive Disorder in France: Multicentric Real-Life Study.

BACKGROUND: Major depressive disorder is one of the leading causes of disability worldwide. Although most international guidelines recommend psychological and psychosocial interventions as first-line treatment for mild to moderate depression, access remains limited in France due to the limited availability of trained clinicians, high costs for patients in the context of nonreimbursement, and the fear of stigmatization. Therefore, online blended psychological treatment such as Deprexis could improve access to care for people with depression. It has several advantages, such as easy accessibility and scalability, and it is supported by evidence. OBJECTIVE: This study aims to evaluate the real-life acceptability of Deprexis for people with depression in France outside of a reimbursement pathway. METHODS: Deprexis Acceptability Study Measure in Real Life (DARE) was designed as a multicenter cross-sectional study in which Deprexis was offered to any patient meeting the inclusion criteria during the fixed inclusion period (June 2022-March 2023). Inclusion criteria were (1) depression, (2) age between 18 and 65 years, (3) sufficient French language skills, and (4) access to the internet with a device to connect to the Deprexis platform. Exclusion criteria were previous or current diagnoses of bipolar disorder, psychotic symptoms, and suicidal thoughts during the current episode. The primary objective was to measure the prospective acceptability of Deprexis, a new digital therapy. Secondary objectives were to examine differences in acceptability according to patient and clinician characteristics and to identify reasons for refusal. All investigators received video-based training on Deprexis before enrollment to ensure that they all had the same level of information and understanding of the program. RESULTS: A total of 245 patients were eligible (n=159, 64.9% were women and n=138, 56.3% were single). The mean age was 40.7 (SD 14.1) years. A total of 78% (n=191) of the patients had moderate to severe depression (according to the Patient Health Questionnaire-9 [PHQ-9]). More than half of the population had another psychiatric comorbidity (excluding bipolar disorder, psychotic disorders, and suicidal ideation). A total of 33.9% (n=83) of patients accepted the idea of using Deprexis; the main reason for refusal was financial at 83.3% (n=135). Multivariate logistic regression identified factors that might favor the acceptability of Deprexis. Among these, being a couple, being treated with an antidepressant, or having a low severity level favored the acceptance of Deprexis. CONCLUSIONS: DARE is the first French study aiming at evaluating the prospective acceptability of digital therapy in the treatment of depression. The main reason for the refusal of Deprexis was financial. DARE will allow better identification of factors influencing acceptability in a natural setting. This study highlights the importance of investigating factors that may be associated with the acceptability of digital interventions, such as marital status, medication use, and severity of depression.

Predictors and burden of hospital readmission with recurrent Clostridioides difficile infection: a French nation-wide inception cohort study.

To investigate the predictors and burden of hospital readmission with recurrent Clostridioides difficile infection (rCDI) in a large European healthcare system with a low prevalence of hyper-virulent C. difficile clones. We conducted an inception cohort study based on an exhaustive health insurance database and including all survivors of a first hospital stay with CDI over a one-year period (2015) in France. Readmissions with rCDI were defined as a novel hospital stay with CDI within 12 weeks following discharge of the index hospitalization. Risk factors for readmission with rCDI were investigated through multivariate logistic regression analyses. Among the 14,739 survivors of the index hospital stay (females, 57.3%; median age, 74 [58-84] years), 2135 (14.5%) required at least one readmission with rCDI. Independent predictors of readmission were age ≥ 65 years (adjusted odds ratio (aOR), 1.34, 95% confidence interval (CI), 1.21-1.49, P < 0.0001), immunosuppression (aOR, 1.27, 95% CI, 1.15-1.41, P < 0.0001), chronic renal failure (aOR, 1.29, 95% CI, 1.14-1.46, P < 0.0001), and a previous history of CDI (aOR, 2.05, 95% CI, 1.55-2.71, P < 0.0001). The cumulative number of risk factors was independently associated with the hazard of readmission. Mean acute care costs attributable to rCDI were 5619 ± 3594 Euros for readmissions with rCDI as primary diagnosis (mean length of stay, 11.3 ± 10.2 days) and 4851 ± 445 Euros for those with rCDI as secondary diagnosis (mean length of stay, 16.8 ± 18.2 days), for an estimated annual nation-wide cost of 14,946,632 Euros. Hospital readmissions with rCDI are common after an index episode and drive major healthcare expenditures with substantial bed occupancy, strengthening the need for efficient secondary prevention strategies in high-risk patients.

Quality of life and utility decrement associated with Clostridium difficile infection in a French hospital setting.

BACKGROUND: Clostridium difficile infection (CDI) is associated with a substantial Quality of life impact on patients that has not been so far measured with a generic validated instrument. METHODS: A prospective study was performed in 7 French acute-care settings in patients presenting with a bacteriologically-confirmed CDI. The EQ-5D-3 L was filled in by patients at 7 ± 2 days after CDI diagnosis to describe their state of health at that date as well as their state of health immediately before the CDI episode (baseline). Individual utility decrement was obtained by subtracting the corresponding utilities. The Quality Adjusted Life Year (QALY) loss was calculated by multiplying the days spent from baseline to the date of the interview, by the decrement of utility. A multivariate analysis of variance of the utility decrement according to CDI and patients characteristics was performed. RESULTS: Eighty patients were enrolled (mean age: 69.4 years, 55% females). The utility scores dropped from a mean 0.542 (SD: 0.391) at baseline to 0.050 (SD: 0.404) during the CDI episode with a mean adjusted utility decrement of 0.492 (SD: 0.398) point. This decrement increased significantly with CDI severity (Zar score ≥ 3) (p = 0.001), in patients with a positive baseline utility (p = 0.032), in women as compared to men (p = 0.041) and in patients aged more than 65 years (p = 0.041). No association with the Charlson index was found. The associated QALY loss not integrating the excess mortality was 0.028 (SD: 0.053). CONCLUSIONS: The impact on quality of life of CDI episodes is major and translates in a substantial QALY loss despite their short duration.

Exposure of children to extremely low frequency magnetic fields in France: Results of the EXPERS study.

The assessment of magnetic field exposure in children is an important point in the context of epidemiological issues. EXPERS is the first study ever carried out measuring personal exposure to extremely low frequency magnetic fields at a national scale, involving 977 French children with 24 h personal measurements. Descriptive statistical analyses were performed for all the children, and only for children where no alarm clock was identified, as in some cases this requirement of the measurement protocol was not respected. The proportion of children with a 24 h arithmetic mean of ≥0.4 µT was 3.1% when considering all children and 0.8% when excluding alarm clocks. The alarm clocks were the main variable linked to the child exposure measurements. Magnetic field exposure increased when the home was located close to a high voltage power line. However, none of the 0.8% of children living at <125 m to a 225 kV line or <200 m to a 400 kV overhead line had a personal exposure of >0.4 µT. A multiple correspondence analysis showed the difficulty to build a statistical model predicting child exposure. The distribution of child personal exposure was significantly different from the distribution of exposure during sleep, questioning the exposure assessment in some epidemiological studies.

Impact of rheumatoid arthritis on career progression, productivity, and employability: The PRET Study.

OBJECTIVES: To evaluate the impact of rheumatoid arthritis (RA) on career, productivity, and employability. METHODS: A retrospective cross-sectional survey was conducted in 2012-2013 in France among patients with RA who were younger than 60 years of age and employed or unemployed. Patients were either recruited during a rheumatologist visit or among members of a nationwide patient-support organization (ANDAR). They completed a questionnaire on the functional impact of RA evaluated by the Health Assessment Questionnaire (HAQ) and on the impact of their disease on work ability. RESULTS: Of 488 surveyed patients, 364 (74.6%) were actively employed, 31 (6.4%) were job seekers, and 93 (19.1%) had left the workforce. In the employed group, mean age was 48.9 years; 82.1% of patients were women; mean RA duration was 11.6 years; and the HAQ score correlated strongly with various markers for decreased productivity including sick leaves, temporary or permanent work discontinuation, and having unwillingly downgraded from a full-time to a part-time work schedule or changed to a different job. Among job seekers, 54% had lost their previous job because of their RA. CONCLUSION: RA is associated with various forms of work disability, which are directly related to the severity of disease-related functional impairments.