Parinda Khatri

Exercise Treatment for Major Depression: Maintenance of Therapeutic Benefit at 10 Months

Objective The purpose of this study was to assess the status of 156 adult volunteers with major depressive disorder (MDD) 6 months after completion of a study in which they were randomly assigned to a 4-month course of aerobic e-ercise, sertraline therapy, or a combination of e-ercise and sertraline. Methods The presence and severity of depression were assessed by clinical interview using the Diagnostic Interview Schedule and the Hamilton Rating Scale for Depression (HRSD) and by self-report using the Beck Depression Inventory. Assessments were performed at baseline, after 4 months of treatment, and 6 months after treatment was concluded (ie, after 10 months). Results After 4 months patients in all three groups e-hibited significant improvement; the proportion of remitted participants (ie, those who no longer met diagnostic criteria for MDD and had an HRSD score <8) was comparable across the three treatment conditions. After 10 months, however, remitted subjects in the e-ercise group had significantly lower relapse rates (p = .01) than subjects in the medication group. Exercising on one’s own during the follow-up period was associated with a reduced probability of depression diagnosis at the end of that period (odds ratio = 0.49, p = .0009). Conclusions Among individuals with MDD, e-ercise therapy is feasible and is associated with significant therapeutic benefit, especially if e-ercise is continued over time.

Perception of cognitive function in older adults following coronary artery bypass surgery.

This study examined the effects of coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG) on objective and subjective measures of neurocognitive functioning. Participants were 170 older patients (127 men and 43 women; mean age = 61 years) undergoing CABG. Measures of neurocognitive function, depression, anxiety, and perceived cognitive abilities were administered immediately prior to and 6 weeks following surgery. Although objective measures of impaired cognitive performance following CABG were not related to perceived cognitive difficulties, the presence of anxiety and depression was related to the perception of cognitive functioning. Patients who reported high levels of anxiety and depression 6 weeks after surgery perceived themselves as having poorer cognitive function. Interventions designed to reduce emotional distress could improve patients perceived cognitive abilities following CABG.

Temperature during coronary artery bypass surgery affects quality of life

BACKGROUND The objective of this study was to examine the effects of temperature on a variety of indices of psychologic adjustment and quality of life. METHODS A total of 209 patients randomly received normothermic (warm) or hypothermic (cold) conditions during coronary artery bypass surgery (CABS), and a number of physical, social, and psychologic measures were assessed before as well as 6 weeks and 6 months after CABS. RESULTS Repeated measures analyses of covariance revealed significant temperature group main effects for anxiety (p = 0.008) and depression (p = 0.039), with the normothermic group obtaining lower anxiety and depression levels than the hypothermic group at both 6 weeks and 6 months after surgery. Additionally, among patients who entered the study with higher depression levels, those in the hypothermic group tended to have higher depression scores at follow-up compared with patients in the normothermic condition (p = 0.012). No temperature group differences were observed on other quality of life indices. CONCLUSIONS The results of the present study indicate that hypothermic conditions during CABS are associated with higher levels of emotional distress after CABS than normothermic conditions, particularly for patients with greater stress to begin with.