Biomedical subjects

James D Tew

Publications and source records attributed to James D Tew.

5 recordsLinked to original sources

PubMed2006

Impact of prior treatment exposure on response to antidepressant treatment in late life.

OBJECTIVE: The objective of this study was to describe the correlates of prior antidepressant exposure and its association with response to protocolized treatment in older patients with major depression. METHODS: Based on their prior antidepressant treatment exposure, 193 elderly patients with a major depressive episode were divided into three groups: those with no prior treatment for their current episode (not treated [TN]), those with antidepressant trials of inadequate dose or duration ("treatment-inadequate" [TI]), and those with at least one adequate trial but persisting depression ("treatment-resistant" [TR]). All patients then received protocolized treatment with interpersonal psychotherapy (IPT) and paroxetine plus pharmacologic augmentation if needed. The demographic, clinical, and outcome information were compared among these three groups. RESULTS: Approximately one-third of the patients referred to the study had been adequately treated (TR), one-third had been inadequately treated (TI), and one-third were not treated for the current episode (TN). Treatment completion rates and reasons for dropping out did not differ statistically among TR, TI, and TN patients. TR patients took longer to respond (13.0 weeks) than either TI or TN patients (7.6 and 8.0 weeks, respectively). TR and TI patients had lower response rates (67% and 71%) than TN patients (86%). CONCLUSIONS: Prior treatment exposure is an important correlate of course and outcome in late-life depression. Most TR and TI patients eventually respond, but TR patients may require more intensive and longer courses of treatment than TI and TN patients.

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PubMed2005

Post-hospitalization transitional care needs of depressed elderly patients: models for improvement.

PURPOSE OF REVIEW: In the weeks immediately following psychiatric hospital discharge, severely depressed elderly patients are at risk of 'falling through the cracks' in a complex health care system: becoming lost to follow-up, receiving inadequate care, or requiring prompt readmission. The purpose of this review is to highlight recent literature on the comorbid physical health problems and complex care needs of elderly patients hospitalized for depression. This paper will also review recent initiatives to improve the quality of care transitions for elderly patients discharged from medical hospitals that may be adaptable to a severely depressed population. RECENT FINDINGS: Due to shorter hospital stays, comorbid physical health problems, and limitations in functional capacity, severely depressed elderly patients discharged from psychiatric hospitals have complex service needs, and numerous barriers to care, immediately following hospital discharge. There is a lack of research specifically addressing the transitional care needs of this population. Improvement interventions assigning transitional care providers to chronically medically ill elderly patients immediately after medical hospital discharge have shown decreased rates of rehospitalization and emergency services utilization, and appear to be cost-effective. SUMMARY: Further research is needed to adapt successful transitional care interventions targeting chronically ill elderly patients in medical hospitals to severely depressed elderly patients being discharged from psychiatric hospitals.

Journal Article↗

PubMed2004

Psychiatric comorbidity: is more less?

With each successive revision of the DSM and ICD, psychiatric comorbidity has become more prevalent. The 'atheoretical' approaches of the DSM and ICD explicitly encourage multiple diagnoses with few exclusionary hierarchies, in the hope that all clinically relevant information will be captured. However, the current strategy of diagnosing 'maximal' comorbidity may not reflect 'optimal' comorbidity. Many clinicians and health information systems, particularly those in developing countries, have a limited capacity for capturing this diagnostic information, and fail to characterize additional diagnoses that are present. This article will address the evolution of our current diagnostic system as a way of understanding the emergence of comorbid psychiatric diagnoses. Alternative diagnostic approaches (a dimensional system, diagnostic hierarchies, and mixed diagnostic categories) that could be used to address the emergence of comorbid psychiatric diagnoses are considered. Future challenges for the next evolution of DSM and ICD are presented.

Journal Article↗

PubMed2002

A randomized comparison of high-charge right unilateral electroconvulsive therapy and bilateral electroconvulsive therapy in older depressed patients who failed to respond to 5 to 8 moderate-charge right unilateral treatments.

BACKGROUND: Electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) is the treatment of choice in some older patients with severe depression. When compared with younger depressed patients, older patients have been shown to be as likely to respond to ECT but more likely to develop cognitive impairment. This study addresses whether adults aged 50 years and over who have already failed to respond to at least 5 moderate-charge right unilateral (RUL) ECT treatments (150% above seizure threshold) are more likely to benefit from a switch to high-charge RUL ECT (450% above threshold) or to bilateral (BL) ECT. METHOD: Twenty-four patients who were treated with 5 to 8 moderate-charge RUL ECT treatments and who failed to improve sufficiently were randomly assigned to receive either BL ECT (N = 11) or high-charge RUL ECT (N = 13). Depressive (24-item Hamilton Rating Scale for Depression) and cognitive scores (Mini-Mental State Examination [MMSE]) were compared under double-blind conditions at 3 phases of treatment. RESULTS: Patients in the BL ECT group exhibited significantly greater cognitive impairment (mean MMSE score decrease of 1.13) than those receiving high-charge RUL ECT (mean MMSE increase of 1.71). There were no statistically significant differences in clinical response to BL or high-charge RUL ECT (63.6% and 61.5%, respectively) or in depressive symptom remission (18.1% and 46.2%). CONCLUSION: These results suggest that older patients who fail to respond to moderate-charge RUL ECT may benefit from a switch to high-charge RUL ECT rather than BL ECT. Larger future studies will be needed to compare clinical response in patients switched from moderate-dose RUL ECT to higher-dose RUL or to BL ECT.

Aged↗

PubMedDate not supplied

A developmental model for enhancing research training during psychiatry residency.

OBJECTIVE: The authors describe a developmental model for enhancing residency research training for careers in academic psychiatry. Over the past 10 years, the University of Pittsburgh Department of Psychiatry has developed a research track (RT) for its residents. While the Department's plan has been to address the critical need of training physician-scientists in psychiatry, the RT continues to evolve as a structured extension of the University's residency-training program. Recently, the University's departmental leadership has taken several steps that address regulatory, institutional, and personal barriers to residency research training put forth by the 2003 Institute of Medicine (IOM) report. METHODS: The authors outline a model of residency research training, elements of which should be exportable to the majority of U.S. psychiatry residency programs. RESULTS: For residents in the RT, up to 50% of time in PGY-3 and up to 75% of time in PGY-4 can be devoted to research-related activities. The authors currently have 13 residents and fellows in their track. Over the past 10 years, 15 of 33 RT residents have become research postdocs or full-time grant-funded researchers in academic positions. CONCLUSION: The authors' experience suggests that it is possible to organize and implement an RT during psychiatry residency within the parameters presented by the Psychiatry Residency Review Committee (RRC).

Education, Medical↗