Intranasal or transdermal nicotine for the treatment of postoperative pain.

Background: Acute pain frequently occurs after surgical procedures. Nicotine has been explored as an adjunctive medication for management of postoperative pain.  

Objectives: To assess the effect of transdermal or intranasal nicotine administration on postoperative pain, opioid analgesic use, and opioid-related adverse events.

Depression drug treatment outcomes in pregnancy and the postpartum period: a systematic review and meta-analysis.

Objective: To evaluate the comparative benefits and harms in both mother and child of antidepressant treatment for depression in pregnant or postpartum women.

Data Sources: MEDLINE, the Cochrane Library, CINAHL, Scopus, ClinicalTrials.gov (inception to July 2013), manufacturers, and reference lists.

Antidepressant Treatment of Depression During Pregnancy and the Postpartum Period.

Objectives: To evaluate the benefits and harms of pharmacological therapy for depression in women during pregnancy or the postpartum period.

Data Sources: Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews, the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials, the Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature (CINAHL), MEDLINE, Scopus, ClinicalTrials.gov, and Scientific Information Packets from pharmaceutical manufacturers.

The role of antipsychotics in smoking and smoking cessation.

Persons with severe and persistent mental illnesses, e.g. schizophrenia spectrum disorders and bipolar disorder, smoke at a much higher rate than the general population.

Antiviral completion rates and sustained viral response in hepatitis C patients with and without preexisting major depressive disorder.

Background: Despite evidence suggesting that the majority of patients with hepatitis C virus (HCV) have psychiatric and substance use disorders, patients with these comorbidities have historically been excluded from antiviral therapy for HCV.

Objective: The authors compared antiviral completion and sustained virologic response (SVR) rates between hepatitis C (HCV) patients with versus those without preexisting major depressive disorder (MDD).

Method: The authors performed a chart review of HCV patients (30 with MDD and 25 control subjects) who attended an optional HCV education class and signed informed consent allowing collection of clinical data.

Depression comorbidity and antidepressant use in veterans with chronic hepatitis C: results from a retrospective chart review.

Background: The 2002 National Institutes of Health Consensus Conference Statement recommended that both clinical and research efforts be made to increase the availability of hepatitis C virus (HCV) treatment to patients who were previously ineligible because of comorbid psychiatric illness and substance use disorders. However, little research on patients with HCV and comorbid depression has been conducted that can serve to inform and guide treatment of HCV. In this study we characterize the prevalence and severity of co-morbid depression, as well as antidepressant and other psychotropic prescribing patterns, in a sample of U.

Hepatitis C testing and infection rates in bipolar patients with and without comorbid substance use disorders.

Objectives: To determine and compare hepatitis C (HCV) screening and testing rates among four groups: those with (i) bipolar disorder [BD group (history of BD but no substance use disorder)]; (ii) substance use disorders [SUD group (history of SUD but no BD)]; (iii) co-occurring disorders [DD group (history of both BD and an SUD)]; and (iv) a control group (no history of either bipolar disorder or substance use disorder). Our hypothesis was that HCV antibody testing rates and HCV prevalence would be higher in the BD, SUD, and DD groups than the control group.

Methods: Data were retrospectively collected on 325,410 patients seen between 1998 and 2004 within facilities and clinics of the Veterans Integrated Service Network (VISN) 20 Northwest Veterans Health Care Administration from electronic medical records.

Selective publication of antidepressant trials and its influence on apparent efficacy.

Background: Evidence-based medicine is valuable to the extent that the evidence base is complete and unbiased. Selective publication of clinical trials--and the outcomes within those trials--can lead to unrealistic estimates of drug effectiveness and alter the apparent risk-benefit ratio.

Methods: We obtained reviews from the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for studies of 12 antidepressant agents involving 12,564 patients.

Psychiatric and substance use disorders in individuals with hepatitis C: epidemiology and management.

Hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection is a major health concern in the US as well as in other countries worldwide. Treatment issues and disease management strategies are complicated by the extremely high rate of psychiatric and substance use disorders in those who have HCV. The majority of new and existing cases of HCV are related to injection drug use and, in this population, the prevalence of psychiatric comorbidity is high.