Lorrin M. Koran

The reliability of clinical methods, data and judgments (second of two parts).

(First of Two Parts) SKILLED physicians examining a patient may disagree regarding the findings. Such disagreements reflect the imperfect reliability of clinical methods and data. A decade ago, Fle...

Potential Markers for Problematic Internet Use: A Telephone Survey of 2,513 Adults

OBJECTIVE The Internet has positively altered many aspects of life. However, for a subset of users, the medium may have become a consuming problem that exhibits features of impulse control disorders recognized in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fourth Edition. METHOD This is the first large-scale epidemiological study of problematic Internet use through a random-digit-dial telephone survey of 2,513 adults in the United States. Given the lack of validated criteria, survey questions were extrapolated from established diagnostic criteria for impulse control disorders, obsessive-compulsive disorder, and substance abuse. Four possible diagnostic criteria sets were generated. The least restrictive set required the respondent to report an unsuccessful effort to reduce Internet use or a history of remaining online longer than intended, Internet use interfering with relationships, and a preoccupation with Internet use when offline. RESULTS The response rate was 56.3%. Interviews averaged 11.3 minutes in duration. From 3.7% to 13% of respondents endorsed > or =1 markers consistent with problematic Internet use. The least restrictive proposed diagnostic criteria set yielded a prevalence of problematic Internet use of 0.7%. CONCLUSION Potential markers of problematic Internet use seem present in a sizeable proportion of adults. Future studies should delineate whether problematic Internet use constitutes a pathological behavior that meets criteria for an independent disorder, or represents a symptom of other psychopathologies.

Does psychosocial functioning improve independent of depressive symptoms? A comparison of nefazodone, psychotherapy, and their combination.

BACKGROUND Although it is known that antidepressant treatment improves psychosocial functioning, whether such changes occur independent of depressive symptoms is not known. This study compared efficacy of nefazodone, psychotherapy, and their combination in improving psychosocial functioning in chronically depressed outpatients. METHODS Patients with chronic forms of major depressive disorder were randomized to 12 weeks of nefazodone, Cognitive Behavioral Analysis System of Psychotherapy (CBASP), or combined nefazodone/CBASP. Psychosocial assessments measured overall psychosocial functioning, work functioning, interpersonal functioning, and general health. RESULTS Relative to community norms, patients with chronic major depression evidenced substantially impaired psychosocial functioning at baseline. Combined treatment produced significantly greater psychosocial improvement than either CBASP alone or nefazodone alone on all primary measures. Combined treatment remained superior to nefazodone on primary measures of work, social, and overall functioning, and superior to CBASP on social functioning when depressive symptoms were controlled. Unlike the two groups receiving nefazodone, CBASP alones effect on psychosocial function was relatively independent of symptom change. Psychosocial functioning improved more slowly than depressive symptoms, and moderate psychosocial impairments remained at end point. CONCLUSIONS Combined treatment had greater effect than either monotherapy. Change in depressive symptoms did not fully explain psychosocial improvement. Moderate residual psychosocial impairment remained, suggesting the need for continuation/maintenance treatment.

Quality of life in obsessive-compulsive disorder.

Available data suggest that OCD has a substantial adverse effect on the HRQL of sufferers and their families. Although no consensus exists as to how to conceptualize or measure HRQL, studies using various concepts and measures will create a greater appreciation of the suffering and impairment entailed in this illness and a greater understanding of the costs, benefits, and limitations of treatment.

A 1 year double-blind placebo-controlled fixed dose study of sertraline in the treatment of obsessive-compulsive disorder.

The objective of this study was to evaluate the safety and efficacy, over a 1 year treatment period, of three dose levels of sertraline and placebo in the treatment of non-depressed adult out-patients with obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). Following 1 week of single-blind placebo washout, patients (n = 325) from 11 sites following identical protocols were randomly assigned to 12 weeks of double-blind treatment with one of three fixed doses of sertraline (50, 100 or 200 mg) or placebo. At the end of 12 weeks, treatment responders (including placebo patients) were offered an additional 40 weeks of double-blind treatment at their assigned doses. Efficacy measures were the Vale-Brown Obsessive Compulsive Scale, the NIMH Global Obsessive Compulsive Scale, Clinical Global Impressions of Severity of Illness and Global Improvement and the Maudsley Obsessive Compulsive Inventory. Patients in the pooled sertraline group showed greater improvement than placebo-treated patients on all efficacy measures, based on the endpoint analyses. Moreover, pairwise comparisons at endpoint revealed a significant effect on all three investigator-rated scales in patients receiving 50 or 200 mg of sertraline; in the 100 mg group, there was a significant effect on the NIMH Global Obsessive Compulsive Scale only. Patients completing 3 months of sertraline treatment exhibited excellent toleration and sustained improvement during an additional 40 weeks of therapy. Results support the safety, efficacy and tolerability of daily doses of 50–200 mg of sertraline in the long-term treatment of patients with OCD.

Psychiatric complications of treatment with corticosteroids: Review with case report

Corticosteroids are widely used in modern medicine but can result in troubling psychiatric side‐effects. Physicians and other medical professionals should be aware of the potential for these side‐effects, possible means of prevention, and efficacious treatments. Herein, we review adult case report data published during the past quarter‐century on adverse corticosteroid‐induced psychiatric effects, and present a case of corticosteroid‐induced psychotic depression. PubMed and PsychLit databases were searched using the terms ‘corticosteroids’, ‘steroids’, and the generic names of corticosteroid medications with terms for psychiatric symptoms or syndromes, including psychosis, mania, hypomania, depression, apathy, anxiety, panic, depersonalization, delirium, confusion, hallucinations, delusions, paranoia, cognitive impairment and dementia. Fifty‐five cases and a number of clinical trials investigating the incidence and treatment of these psychiatric symptoms and syndromes were identified. Data on incidence, drug dose, risk factors, course of illness and treatment (when present) were tabulated. We conclude that the cumulative data indicate that psychiatric complications of corticosteroid treatment are not rare and range from clinically significant anxiety and insomnia, to severe mood and psychotic disorders, delirium and dementia. While tapering or discontinuation of the corticosteroid treatment may remedy these adverse side‐effects, psychotropic medications are often required because of the medical necessity of the corticosteroid or the severity of the psychiatric symptom. Further studies are needed to better understand the deleterious psychiatric effects associated with corticosteroids.

Fluvoxamine versus clomipramine for obsessive-compulsive disorder : A double-blind comparison

The efficacy and tolerability of fluvoxamine (100-300 mg/day) and clomipramine (100-250 mg/day) were compared in a randomized, double-blind, parallel-group study of 79 patients with obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) without coexisting major depression. After a 2-week placebo lead-in period, patients were randomized to fluvoxamine (37 patients) or clomipramine (42 patients) for 10 weeks. Efficacy was evaluated with the Yale-Brown Obsessive-Compulsive Scale (Y-BOCS), the National Institute of Mental Health Obsessive-Compulsive scale, and Patient and Clinical Global Improvement scales. Hamilton Rating Scale for Depression scores and somatic symptoms were also assessed. Seventy-eight percent of fluvoxamine patients and 64% of clomipramine patients completed the study. At the end of treatment, 56% of fluvoxamine patients were classified as responders (> or = 25% decrease in Y-BOCS score), compared with 54% of clomipramine patients. Both groups showed steady improvement throughout the study; no statistically significant differences were observed between the groups for any efficacy variable at any time. A similar percentage of patients in both groups withdrew because of adverse events. No serious adverse events related to drug occurred with either drug. Insomnia, nervousness, and dyspepsia were more statistically frequent with fluvoxamine; dry mouth and postural hypotension were more frequent with clomipramine. In this study, fluvoxamine and clomipramine were equally effective in reducing OCD symptoms over a 10-week treatment period but displayed different side effect profiles.

The prevalence of pathologic skin picking in US adults

OBJECTIVE Despite increasing recognition of the potentially severe medical and psychosocial costs of pathologic skin picking (PSP), no large-sample, randomized investigation of its prevalence in a national population has been conducted. METHOD Two thousand five hundred and thirteen US adults were interviewed during the spring and summer of 2004 in a random-sample, national household computer-assisted phone survey of PSP phenomenology and associated functional impairment. Respondents were classified for subsequent analysis according to proposed diagnostic criteria. RESULTS Of all respondents, 16.6% endorsed lifetime PSP with noticeable skin damage; 60.3% of these denied picking secondary to an inflammation or itch from a medical condition. One fifth to one quarter of those with lifetime PSP not related to a medical condition endorsed tension or nervousness before picking, tension or nervousness when attempting to resist picking, and pleasure or relief during or after picking. A total of 1.4% of our entire sample satisfied our criteria of picking with noticeable skin damage not attributable to another condition and with associated distress or psychosocial impairment. Pickers satisfying these latter criteria differed from other respondents in demographics (age, marital status) and both picking phenomenology and frequency.

Double-blind, placebo-controlled trial of topiramate augmentation in treatment-resistant obsessive-compulsive disorder.

BACKGROUND From 40% to 60% of obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) patients fail to tolerate or respond to selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs). Preclinical and neuroimaging studies have shown abnormally high glutamatergic concentrations in OCD patients and an association between decreased caudate glutamatergic concentrations and reduced OCD symptom severity after SSRI treatment. Topiramate inhibits glutamatergic conduction. METHOD Thirty-six adult patients with DSM-IV-defined OCD were randomly assigned to topiramate (n = 18) and placebo (n = 18) groups in this 12-week, double-blind, placebo-controlled, parallel-groups trial. Subjects were taking the maximum SSRI dose they could tolerate for at least 12 weeks and their current dose for at least 6 weeks, which was maintained throughout the study. Primary outcome measures were changes in the Yale-Brown Obsessive Compulsive Scale (YBOCS) total score and compulsions and obsessions subscores. Patients were recruited and followed up between April 1, 2003, and April 13, 2006. RESULTS Using mixed regression models (time [weeks] × treatment), we found a significant treatment effect on the YBOCS compulsions (P = .014) subscale, but not the obsessions (P = .99) subscale or the total score (P = .11). Over the 12-week trial, the topiramate group (mean endpoint dose = 177.8 ± 134.2 mg/d; range, 50-400 mg/d) showed an average linear decrease of 5.38 points on the compulsions subscale compared to 0.6 points in the placebo group. Thirteen topiramate and 14 placebo subjects completed the study. Topiramate was not well tolerated in this trial: 28% (5/18) of the subjects discontinued the drug for adverse effects, and 39% (7/18) had a dose reduction for this reason. CONCLUSIONS The results of this first double-blind, placebo-controlled trial of topiramate augmentation for treatment-resistant OCD suggest that topiramate may be beneficial for compulsions, but not obsessions. Modifications in glutamatergic function may be responsible, at least in part, for the improved response in compulsions seen with topiramate. TRIAL REGISTRATION clinicaltrials.gov Identifier: NCT00211744.

Effect of concurrent anxiety on response to sertraline and imipramine in patients with chronic depression

Anxiety commonly complicates the clinical presentation of depression and has been associated with poorer long‐term outcome, but little information is available on the clinical correlates, and comparative effect on treatment response, of subsyndromic or secondary anxiety. Patients diagnosed with chronic major or double depression were randomized to 12 weeks of double‐blind treatment with either sertraline or imipramine in a 2:1 ratio. A high anxiety subgroup was operationally defined by a HAM‐D anxiety/somatization factor score ≥ 7. The effect of study treatment was measured utilizing the HAM‐D, CGI, HAM‐D anxiety/somatization factor, as well as a quality of life measure (Q‐LES‐Q) and a measure of psychosocial functioning (the MOS‐SF‐36). Two hundred nine patients were treated with imipramine and 426 patients were treated with sertraline. Thirty‐six percent of the total met criteria for the high anxiety subgroup. According to Kaplan‐Meier probability estimates, patients with significant concurrent anxiety symptoms were more likely to respond by 12 weeks (66.4%) than those without significant anxiety symptoms (54.2%). There was no significant difference in response rates for sertraline vs. imipramine. Both drugs were effective at treating high baseline levels of anxiety, with 60% of sertraline patients and 58% of imipramine patients having 50% or greater reduction from baseline in HAM‐D anxiety/somatization factor scores, and only 4.6% and 9.9%, respectively, reporting treatment‐emergent worsening in anxiety at study endpoint. Despite the chronicity of depressive illness, acute treatment with both sertraline and imipramine significantly improved psychosocial and quality of life measures. High baseline levels of anxiety did not reduce overall antidepressant response but did somewhat delay the onset of response to sertraline or imipramine in patients with chronic depression. Depression and Anxiety 13:18–27, 2001.