Test-retest and inter-rater reliability and construct validity of the 2-minute step test in individuals with Parkinson's disease.

Objective: To evaluate the test-retest and inter-rater reliability and construct validity of the 2-min step test (2MST) in individuals with Parkinson's disease (PD).

Methods: Two previously trained examiners applied the 2MST in two moments. Clinical measurements of PD were obtained using the following instruments: Berg Balance Scale (BBS), Unified Parkinson's Disease Rating Scale (UPDRS), modified Hoehn and Yahr Scale (H&Y), gait speed and cadence, 5-time Sit-to-Stand Test (5TSST) and Timed Up and Go (TUG).

Successful Recovery of Cardiac Function Following 20 min of a No-touch Period in a Donation After Circulatory Death: A Case Report.

Background: Withdrawal of life-sustaining therapy (WLST) performed in the circulatory determination of death (DCD) donors leads to cardiac arrest, challenging the utilization of the myocardium for transplantation. The rapid initiation of normothermic regional perfusion or extracorporeal membrane oxygenation after death helps to optimize organs before implantation. However, additional strategies to mitigate the effects of stress response during WLST, hypoxic/ischemic injury, and reperfusion injury are required to allow myocardium recovery.

Migraine in affectively ill Mexican adolescents.

The objective of this cross-sectional study was to determine the prevalence of migraine headache among depressed Latino adolescents of Mexican American origin. This is, to the best of our knowledge, the first study of the prevalence of migraine among depressed adolescents of any ethnic/racial background. In a mental health clinic for the indigent, 132 consecutive Latino adolescents fulfilling the DSM-IV criteria for major depressive episode were compared with a sample of adolescents with other mental disorders.

Hypomania: a transcultural perspective.

This study examined the transcultural robustness of a screening instrument for hypomania, the Hypomania Checklist-32, first revised version (HCL-32 R1). It was carried out in 2606 patients from twelve countries in five geographic regions (Northern, Southern and Eastern Europe, South America and East Asia). In addition, GAMIAN Europe contributed data from its members.

Migraine headache in affectively ill latino adults of mexican american origin is associated with bipolarity.

Background: The objective of this cross-sectional study was to determine the prevalence of migraine headache among depressed Latino adults of Mexican American origin meeting the criteria for bipolar disorder (BPD) or major depressive disorder (MDD) relative to patients in a psychiatric comparison group.

Method: In a mental health clinic for the indigent, consecutively and systematically evaluated acutely depressed Latino adults received structured diagnostic psychiatric interviews based on modules extracted from the Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-IV. All were asked as part of routine assessment whether they had headaches "in the last week.

Olanzapine/fluoxetine combination for the treatment of mixed depression in bipolar I disorder: a post hoc analysis.

Objective: Mixed depression (ie, co-occurrence of syndromal depression and subsyndromal mania/hypomania) is a common variant of bipolar depression. However, its treatment is much understudied. The aim of the study was to assess the efficacy of the antipsychotic and mood-stabilizing agent olanzapine and the efficacy of the combination of an antidepressant (fluoxetine) and olanzapine (olanzapine/fluoxetine combination; OFC) for the treatment of bipolar I mixed depression.

What is hypomania? Tetrachoric factor analysis and kernel estimation of DSM-IV hypomanic symptoms.

Background: The DSM-IV definition of hypomania, which relies on clinical consensus and historical tradition, includes several "nonspecific" symptoms. The aim of this study was to identify the core symptoms of DSM-IV hypomania.

Method: In an outpatient private practice, 266 bipolar II disorder (BP-II) and 138 major depressive disorder (MDD) remitted patients were interviewed by a bipolar-trained psychiatrist, for different study goals.

The modified SCID Hypomania Module (SCID-Hba): a detailed systematic phenomenologic probing.

Diagnosing past hypomania is a difficult task. Current structured interviews (e.g.

Cyclothymic temperament: the impact of age.

Background: Cyclothymic temperament (CT) is a more or less 'permanent' instability of mood, thinking and activity (behaviour), which is frequent in bipolar disorders. Testing the impact of age on CT items, as has been done in many mood disorders, could further define its features. The aim of the study was to test the relationship between age and CT items.

Is a family history of bipolar disorder a risk factor for migraine among affectively ill patients?

Aims: The aim was to determine whether having a family history of bipolar disorder (BPD) or unipolar major depressive disorder (MDD) is associated with an increased likelihood of having migraine headaches.

Methods: Latino adults received structured diagnostic interviews. Family history was determined by live interview of first-degree relatives or interview by proxy.

A prediction rule for diagnosing hypomania.

Background: Missing the diagnosis of past hypomania, and thus of bipolar II disorder, is common. Study aim was to find a 'prediction rule' for facilitating the diagnosis of past hypomania.

Methods: In an outpatient psychiatry private practice (non-tertiary care), a consecutive sample of 275 bipolar II disorder (BP-II) remitted patients, and consecutive, independent, sample of 138 major depressive disorder (MDD) remitted patients, had been interviewed for different study goals during follow-up visits by a senior bipolar-trained psychiatrist.

Does hypomania distinguish bipolar II disorder from major depressive disorder?

Background: Recent epidemiological/clinical studies have not found clear boundaries between bipolar II disorder (BP-II) and major depressive disorder (MDD), as subsyndromalhypomanic episodes were more common than syndromalhypomania. The aim of the study was to test if hypomania could still be used to split categorically BP-II and MDD.

Methods: 274 consecutive remitted BP-II and 129 MDD outpatients were interviewed by the Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-IV on the most common symptoms and duration of hypomanic episodes (lasting at least 2 days, having at least 2 symptoms), in a private practice.

Classifying mood disorders by age-at-onset instead of polarity.

Background: Polarity is the pillar of the current categorical unipolar-bipolar division of mood disorders. However, genetic studies on these polarity-based phenotypes have been largely inconclusive. Recent clinical and epidemiological studies seem to support more of a continuum than a splitting of mood disorders.

Treating depressive mixed States in bipolar disorders.

Although not recognized as a diagnostic entity in the DSM-IV-TR, mixed depression is a common clinical presentation. To treat depressive mixed states, clinicians in both Europe and the United States have developed valuable, yet different, therapeutic strategies. For example, the European model focuses on resolving patients' hypomanic symptoms, while the American model treats patients in depressive mixed episodes similarly to those who have bipolar II disorder.

Does psychomotor agitation in major depressive episodes indicate bipolarity? Evidence from the Zurich Study.

Background: Kraepelin's partial interpretation of agitated depression as a mixed state of "manic-depressive insanity" (including the current concept of bipolar disorder) has recently been the focus of much research. This paper tested whether, how, and to what extent both psychomotor symptoms, agitation and retardation in depression are related to bipolarity and anxiety.

Method: The prospective Zurich Study assessed psychiatric and somatic syndromes in a community sample of young adults (N = 591) (aged 20 at first interview) by six interviews over 20 years (1979-1999).

Diagnosing depressive mixed states in bipolar disorders.

The presence of depressive mixed states among patients originally diagnosed with unipolar depression suggests that these patients may actually fall along the bipolar spectrum, which has significant treatment implications. To accurately detect mixed depression, physicians should systematically inquire about the presence of manic and hypomanic symptoms in a formal, structured manner when evaluating a depressed patient. This includes specifically asking patients about symptoms of irritability, racing or crowded thoughts, talkativeness, and psychomotor agitation.

Differential patterns of lifetime multiple anxiety disorder comorbidity between Latino adults with bipolar I and major depressive disorders.

Background: To determine the lifetime rates of panic disorder, obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), social phobia, and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) among adult Latino patients with major depressive disorder (MDD) and bipolar disorder (BPD), and whether there are dose-response relationships between loading for comorbid anxiety disorders, the probability of having BPD, and attributes of severity of illness.

Methods: In a public sector clinic for the indigent located in a semiclosed rural community, 187 consecutively presenting affectively ill Latino patients were evaluated by use of the Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-IV. Polarity and the lifetime prevalence of panic disorder, OCD, social phobia, and PTSD were determined.

Pain complaints in latino adults of mexican origin with and without major depressive episode: a cross-sectional study.

Background: The aim of this retrospective, cross-sectional study was to determine the prevalence of 5 pain complaints among Latino adults of Mexican origin meeting the criteria for major depressive episode (MDE).

Method: In a mental health clinic for the indigent, consecutively evaluated Latino adults of Mexican origin received structured diagnostic psychiatric interviews based on modules extracted from the Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-IV Axis I Disorders-Clinical Version. All were specifically asked whether they had experienced headache, backache, abdominal pain, myalgia, or arthralgia "in the last week.