Wednesday, July 20, 2005

Good patient-physician relationship important for treatment adherence Psychiatry Matters article - "The quality of the relationship that a patient with schizophrenia forms with their physician appears to be an important determinant of their attitude toward treatment and the likelihood that they will adhere to medication, UK study findings show. ... Noting that nonadherence to antipsychotic medication is a major cause of psychotic relapse and is strongly influenced by attitudes toward treatment, the researchers explored potential clinical variables that may impact such attitudes. Measures including symptoms, insight, drug adverse effects, self-reported adherence, attitudes toward treatment, perceived relationship with the prescriber, ward atmosphere, and admission experience were assessed in 228 patients with schizophrenia or schizoaffective disorder."  
  

Efficacy of antidepressants in adults  British Medical Journal article - "The National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) recently recommended that antidepressants, in particular selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors, should be first line treatment for moderate or severe depression.1 This conclusion has broadly been accepted as valid.2 The message is essentially the same as that of the Defeat Depression Campaign in the early 1990s, which probably contributed to the 253% rise in antidepressant prescribing in 10 years. From our involvement in commenting on the evidence base for the guideline we believe these recommendations ignore NICE data. The continuing concern that selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors may increase the risk of suicidal behaviour means there needs to be further consideration of evidence for the efficacy of antidepressants in adults as there has been in children." See also Antidepressant Efficacy May Be Overblown, Investigators Say, a Reuters Health story at Medscape that includes interviews with the study's authors. [Viewing Medscape resources requires registration, which is free].  
  

Psychiatric Illness May Affect Data on `Healthy' Subjects  Psychiatric News story - "Some people who volunteer to be 'healthy' controls in psychiatric or other medical research may have personality disorders. Most such volunteers, however, are not screened for Axis II disorders before the study begins. One of the hallmarks of medical research, including psychiatric studies, is the use of 'healthy control' subjects against which a population of interest is compared. Yet it looks as though a large number of persons who volunteer to serve as control subjects have personality disorders, a new study suggests. The study was conducted by Emil Coccaro, M.D., chair of psychiatry at the University of Chicago, and colleagues. Results appear in the July Journal of Psychiatric Research."