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Biomedical subjects

Kurt Kroenke

Publications and source records attributed to Kurt Kroenke.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed2006

Concordance between the PHQ-9 and the HSCL-20 in depressed primary care patients.

BACKGROUND: Two instruments commonly used in primary care research to measure depressive severity are the Patient Health Questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9) and the Hopkins Symptom Checklist-20 (HSCL-20). However, there is little information regarding the relationship between clinical information derived from these scales. The present study investigates the psychometric properties of the PHQ-9 and HSCL-20, determines the degree of instrument concordance, and describes the factor structure of the HSCL-20. METHODS: A secondary data analysis from a randomized controlled trial was performed. A total of 405 primary care patients with major depressive disorder and/or dysthymia were administered the PHQ-9 and the HSCL-20 when recruited for the study. RESULTS: Good internal consistency reliability estimates were obtained for both scales (PHQ-9 alpha=0.803; HSCL-20 alpha=0.837). All PHQ-9 inter-item and corrected item-total correlations showed that no item detracted from overall scale functioning. HSCL-20 items assessing overeating, poor appetite, and sexual interest were poorly correlated with other items and with the total scale score. A positive, moderate strength relationship was found between the instruments (r=0.54, p<0.0001). Exploratory factor analysis of the HSCL-20 yielded a six-factor structure, which accounted for almost 63% of the variance in total score. The largest contribution to common variance in the scale was provided by an "anxiety and self-reproach" factor. CONCLUSIONS: PHQ-9 and HSCL-20 total scores were moderately correlated. Although the HSCL-20 is utilized as a measure of depression severity, it may lack sufficient specificity to be an accurate reflection of depression status per se.

Adolescent↗
PubMed2006

A comparison of traditional and Rasch cut points for assessing clinically important change in health-related quality of life among patients with asthma.

BACKGROUND: Patient-perceived change in health-related quality of life (HRQoL) domains has often been classified using a 15-point patient transition rating scale. However, traditional change levels of trivial ( - 1, 0, or 1), minimal (2, 3 or - 2, - 3), moderate (4, 5 or - 4, - 5) and large (6, 7 or - 6, - 7) on this scale have been arbitrarily defined and originally assumed that change related to an improvement was the same as that for a decline. OBJECTIVE: To compare traditional and Rasch partial credit model-derived cut points and the mean changes for each change categorization when assessing clinically important change in asthma-specific HRQoL. METHODS: Our sample included 396 asthmatic outpatients who completed bimonthly telephone interviews on the Asthma Quality of Life Questionnaire and transition rating items over 1 year of participation. We employed item response theory in a novel approach to identify cut points on domain-specific HRQoL change data and transition ratings. After determining natural cut points for minimal, moderate, and large differences on the transition rating anchor, we calculated mean changes under change categorizations for both improvements and declines for the two transition rating classification approaches. RESULTS: Although traditional and Rasch categorizations for small, moderate, and large changes slightly differed and displayed a lack of symmetry between improvements and declines, nearly all mean changes between classification approaches were comparable. CONCLUSIONS: In this study, traditional transition rating cut points remain suitable to assess HRQoL clinical significance in outpatients with asthma.

Adult↗
PubMed2006

Physician-estimated disease severity in patients with chronic heart or lung disease: a cross-sectional analysis.

BACKGROUND: We evaluated how well physicians' global estimates of disease severity correspond to more specific physician-rated disease variables as well as patients' self-rated health and other patient variables. METHODS: We analyzed baseline data from 1662 primary care patients with chronic cardiac or pulmonary disease who were enrolled in a longitudinal study of health-related quality of life (HRQoL). Each patient's primary physician rated overall disease severity, estimated the two-year risk of hospitalization and mortality, and reported the use of disease-specific medications, tests, and subspecialty referrals. Patient variables included sociodemographic characteristics, psychosocial factors, self-rated health, and both generic and disease-specific HRQoL. RESULTS: Physicians rated 40% of their patients "about average", 30% "worse", and 30% "better" than the typical patient seen with the specific target disorder. The physician's global estimate of disease severity was strongly associated (P < 0.001) with each of the five more specific elements of physician-rated disease severity, but only marginally associated with patient self-rated health. Multivariable regression identified a set of patient variables that explained 16.4% of the variance in physician-rated disease severity. CONCLUSION: Physicians' global ratings may provide disease severity and prognostic information unique from and complementary to patient self-rated health and HRQoL measures. The elements influencing physician-rated disease severity and its predictive validity for clinical outcomes warrant prospective investigation.

Adult↗
PubMed2006

How valid are family proxy assessments of stroke patients' health-related quality of life?

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: Proxy respondents are often needed to report outcomes in stroke survivors, but they typically systematically rate impairments worse than patients themselves. The magnitude of this difference, the degree of agreement between patients and proxies, and the factors influencing agreement are not well known. METHODS: We compared patient and family proxy health-related quality of life (HRQL) responses in 225 patient-proxy pairs enrolled in a clinical trial for poststroke depression. We used paired t-tests and the intraclass correlation (ICC) statistic to evaluate the agreement between patient and proxy domain scores and the overall Stroke-specific Quality of Life (SS-QOL) score. We used multivariate linear regression to model patient- and proxy-reported SS-QOL scores. RESULTS: Patients were older (63 versus 55 years) and less often female (48% versus 74%) than proxies. Proxies rated all domains of SS-SQOL slightly worse than patients. The Mood, Energy, and Thinking domains had the greatest disparity with mean patient-proxy differences of 0.45, 0.37, and 0.37 points, respectively. The ICC for each domain ranged from 0.30 (role function) to 0.59 (physical function). Proxy overall SS-QOL score was also lower (worse) than patient score (3.7 versus 3.4, P<0.001) with ICC of 0.41. Agreement was higher among patient-proxy pairs with higher patient depression scores and with lower proxy report of caregiving burden. CONCLUSIONS: Proxies systematically report more dysfunction in multiple aspects of HRQL than stroke patients themselves. Agreement between patient and proxy HRQL domain scores is modest at best and is affected by patient depression and proxy perception of burden. These differences may be large enough to impact the outcome assessment in stroke clinical trials.

Affect↗
PubMed2006

A brief measure for assessing generalized anxiety disorder: the GAD-7.

BACKGROUND: Generalized anxiety disorder (GAD) is one of the most common mental disorders; however, there is no brief clinical measure for assessing GAD. The objective of this study was to develop a brief self-report scale to identify probable cases of GAD and evaluate its reliability and validity. METHODS: A criterion-standard study was performed in 15 primary care clinics in the United States from November 2004 through June 2005. Of a total of 2740 adult patients completing a study questionnaire, 965 patients had a telephone interview with a mental health professional within 1 week. For criterion and construct validity, GAD self-report scale diagnoses were compared with independent diagnoses made by mental health professionals; functional status measures; disability days; and health care use. RESULTS: A 7-item anxiety scale (GAD-7) had good reliability, as well as criterion, construct, factorial, and procedural validity. A cut point was identified that optimized sensitivity (89%) and specificity (82%). Increasing scores on the scale were strongly associated with multiple domains of functional impairment (all 6 Medical Outcomes Study Short-Form General Health Survey scales and disability days). Although GAD and depression symptoms frequently co-occurred, factor analysis confirmed them as distinct dimensions. Moreover, GAD and depression symptoms had differing but independent effects on functional impairment and disability. There was good agreement between self-report and interviewer-administered versions of the scale. CONCLUSION: The GAD-7 is a valid and efficient tool for screening for GAD and assessing its severity in clinical practice and research.

Adult↗
PubMed2006

Long term outcomes from the IMPACT randomised trial for depressed elderly patients in primary care.

OBJECTIVE: To determine the long term effectiveness of collaborative care management for depression in late life. DESIGN: Two arm, randomised, clinical trial; intervention one year and follow-up two years. SETTING: 18 primary care clinics in eight US healthcare organisations. Patients 1801 primary care patients aged 60 and older with major depression, dysthymia, or both. INTERVENTION: Patients were randomly assigned to a 12 month collaborative care intervention (IMPACT) or usual care for depression. Teams including a depression care manager, primary care doctor, and psychiatrist offered education, behavioural activation, antidepressants, a brief, behaviour based psychotherapy (problem solving treatment), and relapse prevention geared to each patient's needs and preferences. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Interviewers, blinded to treatment assignment, conducted interviews in person at baseline and by telephone at each subsequent follow up. They measured depression (SCL-20), overall functional impairment and quality of life (SF-12), physical functioning (PCS-12), depression treatment, and satisfaction with care. RESULTS: IMPACT patients fared significantly (P < 0.05) better than controls regarding continuation of antidepressant treatment, depressive symptoms, remission of depression, physical functioning, quality of life, self efficacy, and satisfaction with care at 18 and 24 months. One year after IMPACT resources were withdrawn, a significant difference in SCL-20 scores (0.23, P < 0.0001) favouring IMPACT patients remained. CONCLUSIONS: Tailored collaborative care actively engages older adults in treatment for depression and delivers substantial and persistent long term benefits. Benefits include less depression, better physical functioning, and an enhanced quality of life. The IMPACT model may show the way to less depression and healthier lives for older adults.

Activities of Daily Living↗
PubMed2006

Physical symptom disorder: a simpler diagnostic category for somatization-spectrum conditions.

OBJECTIVE: To propose a simpler, more empiric, and patient-centered category for classifying physical symptoms that are "etiologically neutral," that is, not reliant on the assumption that symptoms that is poorly explained from a medical standpoint must de facto be psychological in origin. METHODS: Theoretical analysis, narrative review, and proposal. RESULTS: Studies have revealed several limitations in the current classification of somatoform disorders, including the poor reliability of lifetime symptom recall, the difficulty in adjudicating physical versus psychological explanations, and the stigma in assigning patients with medically unexplained symptoms to an Axis I psychiatric disorder. Physical symptom disorder (PSD) is proposed as a diagnostic category that would reside on Axis III (rather than Axis I) and replace somatization disorder, undifferentiated somatoform disorder, and pain disorder. PSD would consist of one or more physical symptoms currently present, not fully explainable by another medical or psychiatric disorder (with the exception of functional somatic syndromes), causing functional impairment. Duration must be at least 6 months, and severity could be graded as mild, moderate, or severe using a 15-symptom checklist (PHQ-15). Finally, the type of symptoms or symptom syndromes present in the patient could be specified. CONCLUSIONS: PSD should be considered as a simpler and more inclusive diagnosis to replace several somatoform diagnoses currently in use.

Affective Symptoms↗
PubMed2006

Symptoms, syndromes, and the value of psychiatric diagnostics in patients who have functional somatic disorders.

Half of all outpatient encounters are precipitated by physical complaints, of which one third to one half are medically unexplained symptoms, and 20% to 25% are chronic or recurrent. Many of the patients suffer from one or more discrete symptoms, whereas others have functional somatic syndromes. Individual symptoms and somatic syndromes are associated with impaired quality of life, increased health care use, and diminished patient and provider satisfaction. This article provides an overview of (1) unexplained symptoms and somatization; (2) limitations of Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fourth Edition in classifying somatoform disorders; (3) predictors of psychiatric comorbidity in patients who have physical symptoms; and (4) measurement and management of symptoms.

Anxiety↗
PubMed2006

Interpreting quality-of-life data: methods for community consensus in asthma.

BACKGROUND: Change in health-related quality of life (HRQoL) is an important outcome in asthma treatment. Patient and provider consensus on how to determine thresholds for identifying important improvements and declines, however, has not been achieved. OBJECTIVE: To search for consensus in clinically important difference (CID) thresholds for HRQoL change from 3 points of view: (1) an expert panel of physicians who treat patients with asthma and measure the HRQoL of their patients, (2) asthmatic patients, and (3) the primary care physicians (PCPs) of these asthmatic patients. METHODS: The expert panel used Delphi and consensus methods to agree on CID levels for the Asthma Quality of Life Questionnaire and the Medical Outcomes Study 36-Item Short-Form Health Survey, version 2.0. A total of 396 patients attending midwestern primary care clinic sites completed these interviews bimonthly for 1 year. The 46 PCPs treating these patients completed baseline assessments on each patient's asthma and then evaluated the change in each patient's condition at subsequent office visits during the next year. RESULTS: The patient-perceived estimates were consistent with results of previous studies but were notably lower than those derived from the expert panel and the PCPs. The Short-Form Health Survey generally did not provide sufficient sensitivity to detect important changes. CONCLUSIONS: Although consensus on the interpretation of change in HRQoL measures was not achieved, this evidence-based approach demonstrates the value of patient and physician perspectives and the need for improved dialogue and understanding to optimize the HRQoL of patients with asthma.

Adult↗
PubMed2006

Antidepressants and cognitive-behavioral therapy for symptom syndromes.

Somatic symptoms are common in primary care and clinicians often prescribe antidepressants as adjunctive therapy. There are many possible reasons why this may work, including treating comorbid depression or anxiety, inhibition of ascending pain pathways, inhibition of prefrontal cortical areas that are responsible for "attention" to noxious stimuli, and the direct effects of the medications on the syndrome. There are good theoretical reasons why antidepressants with balanced norepinephrine and serotonin effects may be more effective than those that act predominantly on one pathway, though head-to-head comparisons are lacking. For the 11 painful syndromes review in this article, cognitive-behavioral therapy is most consistently demonstrated to be effective, with various antidepressants having more or less randomized controlled data supporting or refuting effectiveness. This article reviews the randomized controlled trial data for the use of antidepressant and cognitive-behavior therapy for 11 somatic syndromes: irritable bowel syndrome, chronic back pain, headache, fibromyalgia, chronic fatigue syndrome, tinnitus, menopausal symptoms, chronic facial pain, noncardiac chest pain, interstitial cystitis, and chronic pelvic pain. For some syndromes, the data for or against treatment effectiveness is relatively robust, for many, however, the data, one way or the other is scanty.

Antidepressive Agents↗
PubMed2006

Using the Patient Health Questionnaire-9 to measure depression among racially and ethnically diverse primary care patients.

OBJECTIVE: The Patient Health Questionnaire depression scale (PHQ-9) is a well-validated, Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders- Fourth Edition (DSM-IV) criterion-based measure for diagnosing depression, assessing severity and monitoring treatment response. The performance of most depression scales including the PHQ-9, however, has not been rigorously evaluated in different racial/ethnic populations. Therefore, we compared the factor structure of the PHQ-9 between different racial/ethnic groups as well as the rates of endorsement and differential item functioning (DIF) of the 9 items of the PHQ-9. The presence of DIF would indicate that responses to an individual item differ significantly between groups, controlling for the level of depression. MEASUREMENTS: A combined dataset from 2 separate studies of 5,053 primary care patients including non-Hispanic white (n=2,520), African American (n=598), Chinese American (n=941), and Latino (n=974) patients was used for our analysis. Exploratory principal components factor analysis was used to derive the factor structure of the PHQ-9 in each of the 4 racial/ethnic groups. A generalized Mantel-Haenszel statistic was used to test for DIF. RESULTS: One main factor that included all PHQ-9 items was found in each racial/ethnic group with alpha coefficients ranging from 0.79 to 0.89. Although endorsement rates of individual items were generally similar among the 4 groups, evidence of DIF was found for some items. CONCLUSIONS: Our analyses indicate that in African American, Chinese American, Latino, and non-Hispanic white patient groups the PHQ-9 measures a common concept of depression and can be effective for the detection and monitoring of depression in these diverse populations.

Adult↗
PubMed2006

Racial and ethnic differences in the relationship between depression severity and functional status.

OBJECTIVE: Major depression has a negative impact on functional status and quality of life, but little is known about racial or ethnic differences in the relationship between depression and functional disability. This study compared the association between depression severity and functional status among three different racial or ethnic groups. METHODS: Data were from participants in the original Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ) Primary Care Study and PHQ Obstetrics-Gynecology Study (N=5,427). Among the study participants, 62.0 percent were non-Hispanic white, 14.8 percent were African American, and 23.1 percent were Latino. Depression severity was assessed with the PHQ-9, the self-administered DSM-IV criteria-based depression module of the PHQ diagnostic instrument for mental disorders. Functional status was measured with the scales of the Medical Outcomes Study 20-item Short Form Health Survey (SF-20), self-reported disability days, clinic visits, and symptom-related difficulty. Groups were compared in terms of mean PHQ-9 scores and functional status at varying levels of depression severity. Linear regression was used to control for age, gender, education level, and language. RESULTS: Mean PHQ-9 scores were not significantly different between the three different racial or ethnic groups. Similar linear associations were found in all three racial or ethnic groups between increasing PHQ-9 scores (more severe depression) and worsening function on the SF-20 scales and an increased number of disability days and clinic visits. Latinos reported significantly less functional impairment on all measures of functionality compared with non-Hispanic whites. CONCLUSIONS: Functional impairment increased with increasing levels of depression severity in all three racial or ethnic groups, although Latinos consistently reported fewer functional disturbances compared with non-Hispanic whites.

Activities of Daily Living↗
PubMed2006

Factors associated with drug adherence and blood pressure control in patients with hypertension.

STUDY OBJECTIVES: To determine characteristics associated with drug adherence and blood pressure control among patients with hypertension, and to assess agreement between self-reported and refill adherences. DESIGN: Cross-sectional analysis of baseline data from an ongoing randomized controlled trial. SETTING: Primary care center at an urban, county health system in Indianapolis, Indiana. PATIENTS: Four hundred ninety-two participants with hypertension and taking at least one antihypertensive drug. MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS: Social and demographic factors, comorbidity, self-reported drug adherence, prescription refill adherence, and systolic and diastolic blood pressures were recorded at baseline. Participants were aged 57 +/- 11 (mean +/- SD) years, were predominantly women (73%) and African-American (68%), and took 2.4 +/- 1.1 antihypertensive drugs. Agreement between self-reported and refill adherences was poor to fair (kappa = 0.21). On multiple logistic regression analysis, increased age (p< or =0.002) and being married (p=0.03) were independent predictors of improved self-reported and refill adherence, whereas depressed patients had low self-reported adherence (p=0.005), and African-Americans had low refill adherence (p<0.001). Compared with nonadherent patients, adherent patients had lower systolic (-5.4 mm Hg by self-report and -5.0 mm Hg by refill) and diastolic (-2.7 mm Hg by self-report and -3.0 mm Hg by refill) blood pressures (p< or =0.02). Increased age was the only other variable strongly associated with systolic and diastolic blood pressure control in both measures of drug adherence (p< or =0.001). The association of depression, race, and sex with blood pressure control was model dependent. CONCLUSION: Age, sex, race and depression are associated with antihypertensive drug adherence and blood pressure control. Self-reported and refill adherences appear to provide complementary information and are associated with reductions in systolic and diastolic blood pressure of similar magnitude.

Age Factors↗
PubMed2006

Venlafaxine extended release in the short-term treatment of depressed and anxious primary care patients with multisomatoform disorder.

OBJECTIVE: This pilot study explored the efficacy and tolerability of extended-release venlafaxine (venlafaxine ER) in anxious and/or depressed patients with multisomatoform disorder (MSD). METHOD: This 12-week, multicenter, randomized, double-blind study evaluated adult primary care outpatients with MSD and comorbid major depressive disorder, generalized anxiety disorder, or social anxiety disorder (DSM-IV criteria). The intent-to-treat population included 112 patients (venlafaxine ER, N = 55; placebo, N = 57). The primary efficacy variable was the change in the 15-item Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-15) somatic symptom severity score. Secondary outcomes included the Hamilton Rating Scale for Depression (HAM-D-17) and for Anxiety (HAM-A), Clinical Global Impressions-Severity of Illness (CGI-S) and -Improvement (CGI-I) scales, McGill Quality of Life Questionnaire Physical Symptoms Scale (MQOL-PS), and Medical Outcomes Study Short-Form 36-Item questionnaire (MOS SF-36). Data were collected from April 2003 to December 2003. RESULTS: The decline by week 12 in PHQ-15 scores was significant (p < .0001) in both groups; however, the difference between the venlafaxine ER and placebo groups (-8.3 vs. -6.6, respectively) was not (p = .097). Improvement was greater with venlafaxine ER than placebo on the PHQ-15 pain subscale (p = .03), SF-36 bodily pain scale (26.1 vs. 14.5, p = .03), MQOL-PS (-11.7 vs. -6.0, p = .02), HAM-A psychic anxiety subscale (p = .02), SF-36 mental component summary (p = .03), time to response (54 vs. 71 days, p = .01), and CGI-I scale (p = .009). Venlafaxine ER was generally well tolerated. CONCLUSION: These results suggest that venlafaxine ER may be effective in relieving some types of somatic physical symptoms, particularly pain, in patients with depression and/or anxiety disorders.

Ambulatory Care↗
PubMed2005

Impact of pain severity and location on health-related quality of life.

Despite evidence that persistent pain affects well-being, little is known about the relationship of the location of pain to psychological and functional well-being. To determine whether patients with musculoskeletal disorders (MSD) are more likely to be depressed and functionally disabled compared to patients with pain at other sites, we conducted a secondary data analysis of the Medical Outcome Study--an observational study of adult outpatients with chronic medical conditions. Of the 3,360 patients who completed the baseline assessment, 1,237 (36.8%) had MSD and 2,123 (63.2%) had no MSD. Among patients in the MSD group, 84.5% reported > or = mild pain as compared to 70% in the no MSD. In multivariate analyses, MSD patients were more likely than non-MSD patients to be depressed (beta coefficient=-1.9, p=0.008) and functionally disabled (beta coefficient=-4.4, p<0.0001). However, the impact of MSD was eliminated after controlling for pain severity. Regardless of the location of pain, pain severity appears to be an important correlate of functional status, both mental and physical.

Adult↗