The impact of depression, anxiety and comorbidity on occupational outcomes.

BACKGROUND: Anxiety and depression account for considerable cost to organizations, driven by both presenteeism (reduced performance due to attending work while ill) and absenteeism. Most research has focused on the impact of depression, with less attention given to anxiety and comorbid presentations. AIMS: To explore the cross-sectional relationship between depression and anxiety (individually and comorbidly) on workplace performance and sickness absence. METHODS: As part of a larger study to evaluate a mental health app, 4953 working Australians were recruited. Participants completed in-app assessment including demographic questions, the Patient Health Questionnaire-9, two-item Generalized Anxiety Disorder and questions from the World Health Organization Health and Work Performance Questionnaire. Cut-off scores were used to establish probable cases of depression alone, anxiety alone and comorbidity. RESULTS: Of the total sample, 7% met cut-off for depression only, 13% anxiety only, while 16% were comorbid. Those with comorbidity reported greater symptom severity, poorer work performance and more sickness absence compared to all other groups. Presenteeism and absenteeism were significantly worse in those with depression only and anxiety only compared to those with non-clinical symptom levels. Although those with depression alone tended to have poorer outcomes than the anxiety-only group, when sample prevalence rates were considered, the impact on presenteeism was comparable. CONCLUSIONS: Workplace functioning is heavily impacted by depression and anxiety both independently and where they co-occur. While comorbidity and more severe depression presentations stand out as impairing, workplace interventions should also prioritize targeting of anxiety disorders (and associated presenteeism) given their high population prevalence.

The relationship between depression symptoms, absenteeism and presenteeism.

BACKGROUND: Mental health problems are common within the working population. Depression is both highly prevalent and debilitating and is linked to increases in absenteeism and presenteeism. The use of summed depression scale scores may conceal differential impacts of depressive symptoms on absenteeism and presenteeism. We aimed to explore both the relationship between absenteeism and presenteeism and both depression severity, along with the independent contributions of different symptoms. METHODS: Participants (N = 4953) were employees recruited as part of a larger study to evaluate a mental health smartphone app and were recruited via industry partner organisations and social media. Participants completed in-app assessment which included demographic information, the Patient Health Questionnaire-9 depression tool, and items of the World Health Organization Health and Work Performance Questionnaire. The relationship between depressive symptoms, absenteeism and presenteeism was estimated using both total summed scores and individual symptoms of depression. RESULTS: Univariate linear regression confirmed a negative linear relationship between depression severity and presenteeism, which remained significant after controlling for age, gender, industry, and work position. Similarly, there was a statistically significant relationship between depression severity and the amount of mental health related sickness absence taken over the preceding 28 days. Johnson's relative weights analysis showed contributory differences amongst depression symptoms in relation to presenteeism and absenteeism. DISCUSSION: Significant relationships between depression severity and both absenteeism and presenteeism were present indicating increases in absence and decreases in performance with increasing severity. There existed differences amongst the contribution of specific symptoms of depression to both outcomes of interest. The symptoms that contribute most to absence were more behavioural in nature, whilst those contributing most to presenteeism were more cognitive. These findings have practical implications for clinicians and employers in making treatment and return-to-work decisions.

Managers' response to mental health issues among their staff.

BACKGROUND: Many organizations are implementing mental health training for managers to facilitate better communication between managers and employees suffering from mental health problems. Much of this training focuses on improving managers' mental health literacy and reducing stigma. However, it is unclear whether this focus is appropriate or whether other targets, such as improving skills and confidence, should be given greater consideration. AIMS: To test whether knowledge, attitudes and confidence are associated with managers' behavioural responses to mental health issues among their staff. METHODS: Managers from a large Australian fire and rescue service completed a questionnaire addressing their knowledge, attitudes, confidence and behavioural responses when managing employee mental health issues. The relationship was assessed using logistic regression. Odds ratios (ORs) with 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were calculated. RESULTS: Eighty-five managers responded (response rate 66%). Managers' confidence was the strongest predictor of their behaviour. Managers who felt confident discussing mental health were significantly more likely to make contact with an employee who was suspected to be suffering from a mental illness (OR 15.79, 95% CI 3.03-82.37, P < 0.01) or was on sickness leave for mental health reasons (OR 19.84, 95% CI 2.25-175.15, P < 0.01). Non-stigmatizing attitudes towards mental illness also significantly predicted contact with a staff member off work due to mental health problems (OR 5.22, 95% CI 1.21-22.54, P < 0.05). CONCLUSIONS: Our findings suggest that manager mental health training should focus on building their confidence and reducing stigma in order to have the greatest chance of altering workplace practices.

A smartphone application for treating depressive symptoms: study protocol for a randomised controlled trial.

BACKGROUND: Depression is a commonly occurring disorder linked to diminished role functioning and quality of life. The development of treatments that overcome barriers to accessing treatment remains an important area of clinical research as most people delay or do not receive treatment at an appropriate time. The workplace is an ideal setting to roll-out an intervention, particularly given the substantial psychological benefits associated with remaining in the workforce. Mobile health (mhealth) interventions utilising smartphone applications (apps) offer novel solutions to disseminating evidence based programs, however few apps have undergone rigorous testing. The present study aims to evaluate the effectiveness of a smartphone app designed to treat depressive symptoms in workers. METHODS: The present study is a multicentre randomised controlled trial (RCT), comparing the effectiveness of the intervention to that of an attention control. The primary outcome measured will be reduced depressive symptoms at 3 months. Secondary outcomes such as wellbeing and work performance will also be measured. Employees from a range of industries will be recruited via a mixture of targeted social media advertising and Industry partners. Participants will be included if they present with likely current depression at baseline. Following baseline assessment (administered within the app), participants will be randomised to receive one of two versions of the Headgear application: 1) Intervention (a 30-day mental health intervention focusing on behavioural activation and mindfulness), or 2) attention control app (mood monitoring for 30 days). Participants will be blinded to their allocation. Analyses will be conducted within an intention to treat framework using mixed modelling. DISCUSSION: The results of this trial will provide valuable information about the effectiveness of mhealth interventions in the treatment of depressive symptoms in a workplace context. TRIAL REGISTRATION: The current trial is registered with the Australian and New Zealand Clinical Trials Registry ( ACTRN12617000547347 , Registration date: 19/04/2017).

"Kiss myAsthma": Using a participatory design approach to develop a self-management app with young people with asthma.

Objective: Young people with asthma often lack engagement in self-management. Smartphone apps offer an attractive, immediate method for obtaining asthma information and self-management support. In this research we developed an evidence-based asthma app tailored to young peoples needs, created using a participatory design approach to optimize user engagement. This paper describes the participatory design process. Methods: This multi-phased research included concept generation and ideation of app design by young people with asthma, and development of asthma information by the research team. Clinical review was sought regarding safety and accuracy of app content. Participants suggestions for improvement and any problems with the app were logged throughout. Our young co-designers were invited back to test a high fidelity prototype app using a "think aloud" process and completed a usability questionnaire. Results: Twenty asthma patients aged 15-24 years contributed to the initial app design. Three respiratory specialists and two pharmacists suggested minor corrections to clinical terminology in the app which were all incorporated. Nine co-designers acted as expert reviewers of the prototype app, of whom eight completed a usability questionnaire. Median usability scores (maximum score 6) indicated high satisfaction with app content, usefulness and ease of use [median item score 5.3 (range 4.7-6.0)]. All feedback was incorporated to create an updated prototype app. Conclusions: A clinically sound asthma app has been developed which is considered highly acceptable to the young co-designers. A six-week test of the engagement, acceptability, and usefulness of the app in young people not involved in the participatory design will follow.

eHealth interventions for the prevention of depression and anxiety in the general population: a systematic review and meta-analysis.

BACKGROUND: Anxiety and depression are associated with a range of adverse outcomes and represent a large global burden to individuals and health care systems. Prevention programs are an important way to avert a proportion of the burden associated with such conditions both at a clinical and subclinical level. eHealth interventions provide an opportunity to offer accessible, acceptable, easily disseminated globally low-cost interventions on a wide scale. However, the efficacy of these programs remains unclear. The aim of this study is to review and evaluate the effects of eHealth prevention interventions for anxiety and depression. METHOD: A systematic search was conducted on four relevant databases to identify randomized controlled trials of eHealth interventions aimed at the prevention of anxiety and depression in the general population published between 2000 and January 2016. The quality of studies was assessed and a meta-analysis was performed using pooled effect size estimates obtained from a random effects model. RESULTS: Ten trials were included in the systematic review and meta-analysis. All studies were of sufficient quality and utilized cognitive behavioural techniques. At post-treatment, the overall mean difference between the intervention and control groups was 0.25 (95% confidence internal: 0.09, 0.41; p = 0.003) for depression outcome studies and 0.31 (95% CI: 0.10, 0.52; p = 0.004) for anxiety outcome studies, indicating a small but positive effect of the eHealth interventions. The effect sizes for universal and indicated/selective interventions were similar (0.29 and 0.25 respectively). However, there was inadequate evidence to suggest that such interventions have an effect on long-term disorder incidence rates. CONCLUSIONS: Evidence suggests that eHealth prevention interventions for anxiety and depression are associated with small but positive effects on symptom reduction. However, there is inadequate evidence on the medium to long-term effect of such interventions, and importantly, on the reduction of incidence of disorders. Further work to explore the impact of eHealth psychological interventions on long-term incidence rates.

Sequential transvenous pacing and shock therapy for termination of sustained ventricular tachycardia.

Rapid ventricular pacing and transvenous shocks are both effective in terminating sustained ventricular tachycardia (VT) only in selected patients. We prospectively examined efficacy and safety of an algorithm for VT termination combining rapid ventricular pacing with low and moderate energy transvenous shocks in patients with sustained VT. Sixty-three VT episodes in 23 patients, mean age 64 +/- 12 years, were treated with the algorithm. Bursts of rapid ventricular pacing and transvenous shocks were delivered with a Medtronic 6880 catheter positioned in the right ventricular apex. VT episodes with cycle lengths greater than 270 msec (group A) were treated with sequential therapy with rapid ventricular pacing (90%, 80%, and 70% of VT cycle length), low energy transvenous shocks (0.5 to 2.7 J), and moderate energy (2.7 to 10 J) transvenous shocks. Rapid VT episodes with cycle lengths less than 270 msec (group B) were treated with moderate energy transvenous shocks directly. Forty-one of 48 (85%) VT episodes in group A and 6 of 15 (40%) VT episodes in group B were successfully terminated by this algorithm. There was no difference in clinical or arrhythmia characteristics between responders and nonresponders in either group A or group B to the algorithm. VT acceleration was observed in 12% of episodes in group A and in 47% of episodes in group B. We conclude that an algorithm combining rapid ventricular pacing with low and moderate energy transvenous shocks is effective for VT termination in episodes with a cycle length greater than 270 msec and can reduce the need for transthoracic cardioversion.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

A prospective evaluation of single and dual current pathways for transvenous cardioversion in rapid ventricular tachycardia.

By using a prospective randomized study design, we compared the clinical efficacy and safety of single unidirectional and bidirectional transvenous cardioversion shocks for termination of rapid ventricular tachycardia (VT) having cycle lengths less than 300 ms. A Medtronic 6880 catheter was placed in the right ventricular apex and an R2 skin patch electrode was placed over the left scapula. Patients were randomized into two groups. Group A patients received unidirectional transvenous shocks using the two catheter electrodes (right ventricular apical cathode and superior vena caval anode) which resulted in a single current pathway. Group B patients received bidirectional transvenous shocks using a common cathode (right ventricular apex) and two separate anodes (superior vena caval and R2 patch) resulting in two current pathways. Identical shocks with total energies of 2.7, 5.0 and 10.0 J and waveform tilt of 27% were delivered to Groups A and B. In selected Group B patients, delivered shock currents through the right ventricular apex/superior vena caval and right ventricular apex/R2 patch electrode pairs were measured. We analyzed the initial episode of VT with a cycle length less than 300 ms in 33 patients with organic heart disease (mean age, 64 +/- 9 years; mean VT cycle length, 248 +/- 37 ms) who underwent programmed electrical stimulation. Transvenous cardioversion shocks terminated 31% of 16 VT episodes in Group A and 41% of 17 VT episodes in Group B (p greater than .2). The mean successful shock energy was 6.1 +/- 3.7 J in Group A and 3.0 +/- 0.9 J in Group B (p less than .05). Forty percent of all successfully cardioverted episodes in Group A and 86% of all successfully cardioverted VT episodes in Group B were terminated at an energy of 2.7 J (p = .09). Analysis of shock waveforms in Group B revealed 47 to 74% of the total current was transmitted through the right ventricular apex/superior vena caval electrodes and 26 to 53% through the right ventricular apex/R2 electrodes. We conclude that single bidirectional transvenous shocks are effective for rapid VT termination in selected patients. Dual current pathways decrease energies needed for successful transvenous cardioversion in this patient population.

Electrophysiologic effects, clinical efficacy and safety of intravenous and oral nadolol in refractory supraventricular tachyarrhythmias.

The electrocardiographic and electrophysiologic effects, clinical efficacy and safety of intravenous and oral nadolol therapy were examined in 34 patients with recurrent supraventricular tachyarrhythmias (SVT) undergoing electrophysiologic evaluation. Programmed electrical stimulation was performed in the control (drug-free) state, after infusion of intravenous nadolol (mean dose 0.09 +/- 0.03 mg/kg) and after chronic oral nadolol therapy in patients who responded to intravenous nadolol (mean dose 83 +/- 12 mg for 5 days). Intravenous nadolol administration prolonged mean sinus cycle length (p = 0.009), mean PR interval (p = 0.001) and mean AH interval (p = 0.001), with no significant electrophysiologic effects in the atrium, ventricle or accessory bypass tracts. Oral nadolol had similar electrocardiographic and electrophysiologic effects, but of lesser magnitude. Intravenous nadolol resulted in complete suppression of induced SVT in 78% of patients with sinus and atrioventricular nodal reentrant tachycardia and 11% of patients with atrioventricular (AV) reentrant tachycardia (p less than 0.001). Partial responses were frequent in intraatrial or AV reentrant tachycardia (37%). Oral nadolol suppressed induction of SVT in patients who responded to intravenous nadolol. Adverse reactions to intravenous and oral nadolol were infrequent--6% and 8%, respectively--and usually did not require drug withdrawal. Intravenous nadolol is highly effective in sinus and AV nodal reentrant tachycardia, and a successful electrophysiologic response to it predicts efficacy of long-term oral nadolol therapy. It has limited efficacy alone in AV reentrant tachycardia and should be considered in combination with other antiarrhythmic therapy in this type of SVT.

Lack of end-product inhibition and repression of leucine synthesis in a strain of Salmonella typhimurium.

Mutants of Salmonella have been isolated which luck either end product inhibition or repression of leucine biosynthesis. In a minimal saltsglucose medium, growth is not impaired by the lack of either control mechanism alone. The loss of both control mechanisms, however, leads to a 43 percent reduction in cell yield and a 1.5-fold reduction in the growth rate.