Hillary R. Bogner

DIABETES, DEPRESSION, AND DEATH: A RANDOMIZED CONTROLLED TRIAL OF A DEPRESSION TREATMENT PROGRAM FOR OLDER ADULTS BASED IN PRIMARY CARE (PROSPECT)

OBJECTIVE—We sought to test our a priori hypothesis that depressed patients with diabetes in practices implementing a depression management program would have a decreased risk of mortality compared with depressed patients with diabetes in usual-care practices. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS—We used data from the multisite, practice-randomized, controlled Prevention of Suicide in Primary Care Elderly: Collaborative Trial (PROSPECT), with patient recruitment from May 1999 to August 2001, supplemented with a search of the National Death Index. Twenty primary care practices participated from the greater metropolitan areas of New York City, New York; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; and Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. In all, 584 participants identified though a two-stage, age-stratified (aged 60–74 or ≥75 years) depression screening of randomly sampled patients and classified as depressed with complete information on diabetes status are included in these analyses. Of the 584 participants, 123 (21.2%) reported a history of diabetes. A depression care manager worked with primary care physicians to provide algorithm-based care. Vital status was assessed at 5 years. RESULTS—After a median follow-up of 52.0 months, 110 depressed patients had died. Depressed patients with diabetes in the intervention category were less likely to have died during the 5-year follow-up interval than depressed diabetic patients in usual care after accounting for baseline differences among patients (adjusted hazard ratio 0.49 [95% CI 0.24–0.98]). CONCLUSIONS—Older depressed primary care patients with diabetes in practices implementing depression care management were less likely to die over the course of a 5-year interval than depressed patients with diabetes in usual-care practices.

Integrated Management of Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus and Depression Treatment to Improve Medication Adherence: A Randomized Controlled Trial

PURPOSE Depression commonly accompanies diabetes, resulting in reduced adherence to medications and increased risk for morbidity and mortality. The objective of this study was to examine whether a simple, brief integrated approach to depression and type 2 diabetes mellitus (type 2 diabetes) treatment improved adherence to oral hypoglycemic agents and antidepressant medications, glycemic control, and depression among primary care patients. METHODS We undertook a randomized controlled trial conducted from April 2010 through April 2011 of 180 patients prescribed pharmacotherapy for type 2 diabetes and depression in primary care. Patients were randomly assigned to an integrated care intervention or usual care. Integrated care managers collaborated with physicians to offer education and guideline-based treatment recommendations and to monitor adherence and clinical status. Adherence was assessed using the Medication Event Monitoring System (MEMS). We used glycated hemoglobin (HbA1c) assays to measure glycemic control and the 9-item Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-9) to assess depression. RESULTS Intervention and usual care groups did not differ statistically on baseline measures. Patients who received the intervention were more likely to achieve HbA1c levels of less than 7% (intervention 60.9% vs usual care 35.7%; P <.001) and remission of depression (PHQ-9 score of less than 5: intervention 58.7% vs usual care 30.7%; P <.001) in comparison with patients in the usual care group at 12 weeks. CONCLUSIONS A randomized controlled trial of a simple, brief intervention integrating treatment of type 2 diabetes and depression was successful in improving outcomes in primary care. An integrated approach to depression and type 2 diabetes treatment may facilitate its deployment in real-world practices with competing demands for limited resources.

Depression, cardiovascular disease, diabetes, and two-year mortality among older, primary-care patients

OBJECTIVE Depression is a major contributor to death and disability, but few follow-up studies of depression have been carried out in the primary-care setting. The authors sought to assess whether depression in older patients is associated with increased mortality after a 2-year follow-up interval and to estimate the population-attributable fraction (PAF) of depression on mortality in older primary-care patients. METHODS Longitudinal cohort analysis was carried out in 20 primary-care practices. Participants were identified though a two-stage, age-stratified (60-74 or 75+) depression screening of randomly sampled patients; enrollment included patients who screened positive and a random sample of screened-negative patients. In all, 1,226 persons were assessed at baseline. Vital status at 2 years was the outcome of interest. RESULTS Of 1,226 persons in the sample, 598 were classified as depressed. After 2 years, 64 persons had died. Persons with depression at baseline were more likely to die at the end of the 2-year follow-up interval than were persons without depression, even after accounting for potentially influential covariates such as whether the participant reported a history of myocardial infarction (MI) or diabetes. CONCLUSIONS Among older, primary-care patients over the course of a 2-year follow-up interval, depression contributed as much to mortality as did MI or diabetes.

Long term effect of depression care management on mortality in older adults: follow-up of cluster randomized clinical trial in primary care

Objective To investigate whether an intervention to improve treatment of depression in older adults in primary care modified the increased risk of death associated with depression. Design Long term follow-up of multi-site practice randomized controlled trial (PROSPECT—Prevention of Suicide in Primary Care Elderly: Collaborative Trial). Setting 20 primary care practices in New York City, Philadelphia, and Pittsburgh, USA, randomized to intervention or usual care. Participants 1226 participants identified between May 1999 and August 2001 through a two stage, age stratified (60-74; ≥75 years) depression screening of randomly sampled patients; enrollment included patients who screened positive and a random sample of patients who screened negative. Intervention For two years, a depression care manager worked with primary care physicians in intervention practices to provide algorithm based care for depression, offering psychotherapy, increasing antidepressant dose if indicated, and monitoring symptoms, adverse effects of drugs, and adherence to treatment. This paper reports the long term follow-up. Main outcome measure Mortality risk based on a median follow-up of 98 (range 0.8-116.4) months through 2008. Results In baseline clinical interviews, 396 people were classified as having major depression, 203 had clinically significant minor depression, and 627 did not meet criteria for depression. At follow-up, 405 patients had died. Patients with major depression in usual care were more likely to die than were those without depression (hazard ratio 1.90, 95% confidence interval 1.57 to 2.31). In contrast, patients with major depression in intervention practices were at no greater risk than were people without depression (hazard ratio 1.09, 0.83 to 1.44). Patients with major depression in intervention practices, relative to usual care, were 24% less likely to have died (hazard ratio 0.76, 0.57 to 1.00; P=0.05). Preliminary data on cause of death are provided. No significant effect on mortality was found for minor depression. Conclusions Older adults with major depression in practices provided with additional resources to intensively manage depression had a mortality risk lower than that observed in usual care and similar to older adults without depression. Trial registration Clinical trials NCT00000367.

Urinary Incontinence and Psychological Distress in Community-Dwelling Older Adults

OBJECTIVES: To examine the relationship between urinary incontinence (UI) and psychological distress in older adults. We hypothesized that persons with UI associated with condition‐specific functional loss would be most likely to report psychological distress.

Integration of Depression and Hypertension Treatment: A Pilot, Randomized Controlled Trial

PURPOSE We wanted to examine whether integrating depression treatment into care for hypertension improved adherence to antidepressant and antihypertensive medications, depression outcomes, and blood pressure control among older primary care patients. METHODS Older adults prescribed pharmacotherapy for depression and hypertension from physicians at a large primary care practice in West Philadelphia were randomly assigned to an integrated care intervention or usual care. Outcomes were assessed at baseline, 2, 4, and 6 weeks using the Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale (CES-D) to assess depression, an electronic monitor to measure blood pressure, and the Medication Event Monitoring System to assess adherence. RESULTS In all, 64 participants aged 50 to 80 years participated. Participants in the integrated care intervention had fewer depressive symptoms (CES-D mean scores, intervention 9.9 vs usual care 19.3; P <.01), lower systolic blood pressure (intervention 127.3 mm Hg vs usual care 141.3 mm Hg; P <.01), and lower diastolic blood pressure (intervention 75.8 mm Hg vs usual care 85.0 mm Hg; P <.01) compared with participants in the usual care group at 6 weeks. Compared with the usual care group, the proportion of participants in the intervention group who had 80% or greater adherence to an antidepressant medication (intervention 71.9% vs usual care 31.3%; P <.01) and to an antihypertensive medication (intervention 78.1% vs usual care 31.3%; P <.001) was greater at 6 weeks. CONCLUSION A pilot, randomized controlled trial integrating depression and hypertension treatment was successful in improving patient outcomes. Integrated interventions may be more feasible and effective in real-world practices, where there are competing demands for limited resources.

Primary Care Clinicians Evaluate Integrated and Referral Models of Behavioral Health Care For Older Adults: Results From a Multisite Effectiveness Trial (PRISM-E)

BACKGROUND Recent studies have shown that integrated behavioral health services for older adults in primary care improves health outcomes. No study, however, has asked the opinions of clinicians whose patients actually experienced integrated rather than enhanced referral care for depression and other conditions. METHOD The Primary Care Research in Substance Abuse and Mental Health for the Elderly (PRISM-E) study was a randomized trial comparing integrated behavioral health care with enhanced referral care in primary care settings across the United States. Primary care clinicians at each participating site were asked whether integrated or enhanced referral care was preferred across a variety of components of care. Managers also completed questionnaires related to the process of care at each site. RESULTS Almost all primary care clinicians (n = 127) stated that integrated care led to better communication between primary care clinicians and mental health specialists (93%), less stigma for patients (93%), and better coordination of mental and physical care (92%). Fewer thought that integrated care led to better management of depression (64%), anxiety (76%), or alcohol problems (66%). At sites in which the clinicians were rated as participating in mental health care, integrated care was highly rated as improving communication between specialists in mental health and primary care. CONCLUSIONS Among primary care clinicians who cared for patients that received integrated care or enhanced referral care, integrated care was preferred for many aspects of mental health care.

The Role of Medical Comorbidity in Outcome of Major Depression in Primary Care The PROSPECT Study

OBJECTIVE The authors described the influence of specific medical conditions on clinical remission and response of major depression (MDD) in a clinical trial evaluating a care-management intervention among older primary-care patients. METHODS Adults age 60 years and older were randomly selected and screened for depression. Participants were randomly assigned to Usual Care or to an Intervention with a depression care-manager offering algorithm-based care for MDD. In all, 324 adults meeting criteria for MDD were included in these analyses. Remission and response was defined by a score on the Hamilton Rating Scale for Depression <10 and by a decrease from baseline of > or =50%, respectively. Medical comorbidity was ascertained through self-report. Cognitive impairment was defined by a score <24 on the Mini-Mental State Exam (MMSE). RESULTS In Usual Care, rates of remission were faster in persons who reported atrial fibrillation (AF) than in persons who did not report AF and slower in persons who reported chronic pulmonary disease than in persons who did not report chronic pulmonary disease; rates of response were less stable in persons with MMSE <24 than in those with MMSE > or =24. In the Intervention condition, none of the specific chronic medical conditions were significantly associated with outcomes for MDD. CONCLUSIONS Because disease-specific findings were observed in persons who received Usual Care but not in persons who received more intensive treatment in the Intervention condition, our results suggest that the association of medical comorbidity and treatment outcomes for MDD may be determined by the intensity of treatment for depression.

Integrating Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus and Depression Treatment Among African Americans: A Randomized Controlled Pilot Trial

Purpose The purpose of this study was to examine whether integrating depression treatment into care for type 2 diabetes mellitus among older African Americans improved medication adherence, glycemic control, and depression outcomes. Methods Older African Americans prescribed pharmacotherapy for type 2 diabetes mellitus and depression from physicians at a large primary care practice in west Philadelphia were randomly assigned to an integrated care intervention or usual care. Adherence was assessed at baseline, 2, 4, and 6 weeks using the Medication Event Monitoring System to assess adherence. Outcomes assessed at baseline and 12 weeks included standard laboratory tests to measure glycemic control and the Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale (CES-D) to assess depression. Results In all, 58 participants aged 50 to 80 years participated. The proportion of participants who had 80% or greater adherence to an oral hypoglycemic (intervention 62.1% vs usual care 24.1%) and an antidepressant (intervention 62.1% vs usual care 10.3%) was greater in the intervention group in comparison with the usual care group at 6 weeks. Participants in the integrated care intervention had lower levels of glycosylated hemoglobin (intervention 6.7% vs usual care 7.9%) and fewer depressive symptoms (CES-D mean scores: intervention 9.6 vs usual care 16.6) compared with participants in the usual care group at 12 weeks. Conclusion A pilot randomized controlled trial integrating type 2 diabetes mellitus treatment and depression was successful in improving outcomes among older African Americans. Integrated interventions may be more feasible and effective in real-world practices with competing demands for limited resources.

Are higher rates of depression in women accounted for by differential symptom reporting

The gender difference in prevalence and incidence rates of depression is one of the most consistent findings in psychiatric epidemiology. We sought to examine whether any gender differences in symptom profile might account for this difference in rates. This study was a population-based 13-year follow-up survey of community-dwelling adults living in East Baltimore in 1981. Subjects were the continuing participants of the Baltimore Epidemiologic Catchment Area Program. Participants interviewed between 1993 and 1996 with complete data on depressive symptoms and covariates were included (n = 1,727). We applied structural equations with a measurement model for dichotomous data (the MIMIC—multiple indicators, multiple causes—model) to compare symptoms between women and men, in relation to the nine symptom groups comprising the diagnostic criteria for major depression, adjusting for several potentially influential characteristics (namely, age, self-reported ethnicity, educational attainment, marital status, and employment). There were no significant gender differences in the self-report of depression symptoms even taking into account the higher level of depressive symptoms of women and the influence of other covariates. For example, women were no more likely to endorse sadness than were men, as evidenced by a direct effect coefficient that was not significantly different from the null [adjusted estimated direct effect of gender on report of sadness = 0.105, 95% confidence interval (–0.113, 0.323)]. Men and women in this community sample reported similar patterns of depressive symptoms. No evidence that the presentation of depressive symptoms differs by gender was found.