Ketamine for major depressive disorder during an inpatient psychiatric admission: Effectiveness, adverse events, and lessons learned.

Objective: Most studies examining the efficacy of ketamine for Major Depressive Disorder (MDD) have been conducted in outpatient or mixed inpatient/outpatient settings. Less is known about effectiveness and tolerability of ketamine for psychiatrically hospitalized patients. Efficacy and tolerability data from a naturalistic sample of acute inpatients may help inform institutions considering ketamine therapy for inpatient services.

Low COVID-19 Vaccination Rates Among Psychiatric Inpatients: Implications for Institutional Settings and Outreach Efforts.

Objective: This study sought to determine COVID-19 vaccination rates for individuals with serious mental illness admitted to a large health system in New York State.

Methods: Vaccination rates among 12,714 patients admitted to psychiatric units and to medical and surgical units were compared between April 6, 2021, and September 30, 2021.

Results: Only 40% (N=416 of 1,029) of patients admitted to psychiatric services had at least one COVID-19 vaccination, whereas 64.

Inpatient psychiatry response to the SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variant surge.

The increased transmissibility of the omicron variant of the SARS-CoV-2 virus resulted in a rapid increase in infection among many psychiatric inpatients in our hospital between December 2021 and February 2022. This required our institution to close affected units to new admissions. In response, we implemented a model utilizing universal SARS-CoV-2 polymerase chain reaction (PCR) testing at the time of admission, the development of "admitting units" where all patients were quarantined for four days followed by repeat PCR testing, and subsequent transition to COVID-19 negative and COVID-19 positive "receiving units" based on the results of the second test.

Illness stage and predominant polarity in bipolar disorder: Correlation with burden of illness and moderation of treatment outcome.

Bipolar disorder often follows a set progression best described in stages where advanced stages are associated with poorer outcomes. Bipolar disorder is also often characterized by a predominance of episode polarity, where some individuals experience more depressive episodes (termed predominant depressive polarity) while others experience more hypo/manic episodes (termed predominant hypo/manic polarity). We examined the associations between staging and predominant polarity with measures of illness burden and treatment outcome utilizing data from a six-month comparative effectiveness trial of lithium and quetiapine in bipolar disorder (Bipolar CHOICE).

Universal COVID-19 testing and a three-space triage protocol is associated with a nine-fold decrease in possible nosocomial infections in an inpatient psychiatric facility.

In May of 2020, the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Service Administration (SAMSA) issued guidelines for state psychiatric hospitals, recommending that these facilities adopt universal testing for COVID-19 and "three-space" triage protocols for dedicated COVID-19 positive, negative, and quarantine spaces to mitigate the risk of nosocomial infection. The Westchester Behavioral Health Center of New York Presbyterian Hospital (WBHC-NYP) adopted a comprehensive infection control protocol consistent with these recommendations in April, 2020. We reviewed the records of 1,139 patients treated on the inpatient service at WBHC-NYP between March 14th and June 10, 2020, dates corresponding to the first COVID-19 surge in the New York City metropolitan region.

COVID-19 infection rates in patients referred for psychiatric admission during a regional surge: The case for universal testing.

Some psychiatric hospitals have instituted mandatory COVID-19 testing for all patients referred for admission. Others have permitted patients to decline testing. Little is known about the rate of COVID-19 infection in acute psychiatric inpatients.

A COVID-19 testing and triage algorithm for psychiatric units: One hospital's response to the New York region's pandemic.

Psychiatric patients are at high risk for contracting COVID-19, and inpatient psychiatric units face substantial risks of institutional outbreaks. Here, the authors describe an algorithm for testing and triage in a large psychiatric facility designed to prevent local COVID-19 transmission. The algorithm is based on expert opinion and clinical experience between March and April of 2020, during which the institution cared for 47 COVID-19 positive psychiatric inpatients.

A double-blind pilot dosing study of low field magnetic stimulation (LFMS) for treatment-resistant depression (TRD).

Background: Low field magnetic stimulation is a potentially rapid-acting treatment for depression with mood-enhancing effects in as little as one 20-min session. The most convincing data for LFMS has come from treating bipolar depression. We examined whether LFMS also has rapid mood-enhancing effects in treatment-resistant major depressive disorder, and whether these effects are dose-dependent.

Urinary Retention Associated With Cariprazine: A Case Report.

Urinary retention is a well-documented adverse effect of antipsychotic medications and is thought to be mediated by anticholinergic, adrenergic, and other neurotransmitter effects. Whereas urinary retention has been reported with typical and some atypical antipsychotics, there have been no reports of urinary retention with the novel antipsychotic cariprazine. We report on a case of urinary retention associated with cariprazine.

Assessing Decision Making Capacity for Do Not Resuscitate Requests in Depressed Patients: How to Apply the "Communication" and "Appreciation" Criteria.

The Patient Self Determination Act (PSDA) of 1991 brought much needed attention to the importance of advance care planning and surrogate decision-making. The purpose of this law is to ensure that a patient's preferences for medical care are recognized and promoted, even if the patient loses decision-making capacity (DMC). In general, patients are presumed to have DMC.

Oxcarbazepine-induced liver injury after sensitization by valproic acid: a case report.

Objective: The aim of the present case report is to describe a potential interaction between valproic acid and oxcarbazepine that resulted in hepatic injury.

Methods: We report the case of a 46-year-old man with schizoaffective disorder who was cross-titrated from valproic acid to oxcarbazepine because of liver injury.

Results: Initiation of oxcarbazepine four days after stopping valproic acid produced a significant elevation in liver enzymes that normalized with oxcarbazepine discontinuation and did not reappear with its reintroduction five days later.

Bipolar CHOICE (Clinical Health Outcomes Initiative in Comparative Effectiveness): a pragmatic 6-month trial of lithium versus quetiapine for bipolar disorder.

Background: Bipolar disorder is among the 10 most disabling medical conditions worldwide. While lithium has been used extensively for bipolar disorder since the 1970s, second-generation antipsychotics (SGAs) have supplanted lithium since 1998. To date, no randomized comparative-effectiveness study has compared lithium and any SGA.

Perspectives on depression--past, present, future(a).

Depression presents a wide canvas for considering some approaches, issues, and problems in the study of major categories of mental illness in the context of current behavioral and molecular neurobiology. The study of depression encompasses multiple interactions among psychiatry, neurology, and neuroscience, as well as interactions with a host of other disciplines. This paper considers issues from an American perspective and discusses topics including historical aspects of the ways humanity has struggled with depression; the growth of approaches, and the "wars" in psychiatry in the middle of the 20th century between different ideologies; the development of psychiatry as a behavioral science inclusive of many disciplines; current diagnostic systems such as the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-5) of the American Psychiatric Association, and the ICD-10 Classification of Mental and Behavioral Disorders of the World Health Organization; the efforts to delineate subtypes of depression; the search for new neurobiological and behavioral targets in the context of the National Institute of Mental Health's Research Domain Criteria framework; and examples of potential future discoveries and disciplines that may ultimately improve treatment.

Psychotherapy use in bipolar disorder: Association with functioning and illness severity.

Objective: This study examines characteristics of individuals with bipolar disorder who sought psychotherapy versus those who did not.

Methods: Bipolar CHOICE was an 11-site comparative effectiveness study of lithium versus quetiapine in symptomatic outpatients (N = 482) with bipolar disorder. At baseline, participants' psychotherapy use within the past 3 months, mood, functioning, and overall health were assessed.

Complexity of illness and adjunctive benzodiazepine use in outpatients with bipolar I or II disorder: results from the Bipolar CHOICE study.

Benzodiazepines are widely prescribed for patients with bipolar disorders in clinical practice, but very little is known about the subtypes of patients with bipolar disorder or aspects of bipolar illness that contribute most to benzodiazepine use. We examined the prevalence of and factors associated with benzodiazepine use among 482 patients with bipolar I or II disorder enrolled in the Bipolar CHOICE study. Eighty-one subjects were prescribed benzodiazepines at study entry and were considered benzodiazepine users.

Medical burden in bipolar disorder: findings from the Clinical and Health Outcomes Initiative in Comparative Effectiveness for Bipolar Disorder study (Bipolar CHOICE).

Objectives: Individuals with bipolar disorder have high rates of other medical comorbidity, which is associated with higher mortality rates and worse course of illness. The present study examined common predictors of medical comorbidity.

Methods: The Clinical and Health Outcomes Initiative in Comparative Effectiveness for Bipolar Disorder study (Bipolar CHOICE) enrolled 482 participants with bipolar I or bipolar II disorder in a six-month, randomized comparative effectiveness trial.

Effect of adjunctive benzodiazepines on clinical outcomes in lithium- or quetiapine-treated outpatients with bipolar I or II disorder: results from the Bipolar CHOICE trial.

Background: Little is known about the longer-term effects of adjunctive benzodiazepines on symptom response during treatment in patients with bipolar disorders.

Methods: The study sample consisted of 482 patients with bipolar I or II disorder enrolled in a 6-month, randomized, multi-site comparison of lithium- and quetiapine-based treatment. Changes in clinical measures (BISS total and subscales, CGI-BP, and CGI-Efficacy Index) were compared between participants who did and did not receive benzodiazepine treatment at baseline or during follow-up.

Association of exercise with quality of life and mood symptoms in a comparative effectiveness study of bipolar disorder.

Background: Individuals with bipolar disorder lead a sedentary lifestyle associated with worse course of illness and recurrence of symptoms. Identifying potentially modifiable predictors of exercise frequency could lead to interventions with powerful consequences on the course of illness and overall health.

Methods: The present study examines baseline reports of exercise frequency of bipolar patients in a multi-site comparative effectiveness study of a second generation antipsychotic (quetiapine) versus a classic mood stabilizer (lithium).