Introduction: There is growing interest in the use of psychedelic-assisted therapy (PAT) for major depressive disorder (MDD), including treatment-resistant depression. We used randomized controlled trial (RCT) data to compare summary estimates of change in depression ratings with PAT versus comparator treatments in MDD. We also compared response and remission rates, and adverse effects.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFIndian J Psychol Med
November 2024
Randomized controlled trials (RCTs) are a gold standard in evidence-based research. However, RCTs have limitations, among which the most commonly acknowledged is that narrow study selection criteria compromise the external validity of the findings. This article briefly touches upon this and other well-recognized limitations and presents, in greater detail, less commonly acknowledged limitations with examples from contemporary literature.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFAbout 5%-10% of pregnancies in the US are exposed to cannabis with highest use reported during the first trimester. Two recent meta-analyses presented estimates of the risk of birth defects associated with prenatal exposure to cannabis; the larger and more recent meta-analysis pooled data from 18 cohort and 18 case-control studies with a total sample size of >19 million subjects. The meta-analyses found that prenatal exposure to cannabis was associated with a small but statistically significant increased risk of any birth defect (pooled odds ratios [ORs], 1.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFJ Clin Psychiatry
October 2024
The global prevalence of type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) is increasing. T2DM is more common in patients with psychiatric disorders and those who take certain psychotropic drugs. T2DM occurs in 2%-7% of women of reproductive age.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFJ Clin Psychiatry
September 2024
The use of regression analysis is common in research. This article presents an introductory section that explains basic terms and concepts such as independent and dependent variables (IVs and DVs), covariates and confounds, zero-order correlations and multiple correlations, variance explained by variables and shared variance, bivariate and multivariable linear regression, line of least squares and residuals, unadjusted and adjusted analyses, unstandardized () and standardized (β) coefficients, adjusted , interaction terms, and others. Next, this article presents a more advanced section with the help of 3 examples; the raw data files for these examples are included in supplementary materials, and readers are encouraged to download the data files and run the regressions on their own in order to better follow what is explained in the text (this, however, is not mandatory, and readers who do not do so can also follow the discussions in the text).
View Article and Find Full Text PDFDrugs have actions that may be classified as therapeutic effects and side effects; side effects are actions that do not contribute to therapeutic benefit. Some side effects are neutral; others, experienced as undesirable or unpleasant, are recorded as adverse effects. Some drug actions are therapeutic for some disorders and adverse for others; or therapeutic during acute illness and adverse during maintenance treatment.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFErectile dysfunction (ED) refers to the difficulty in achieving and maintaining a degree of penile erection that suffices for satisfactory sexual activity. ED is multifactorial in origin; its prevalence therefore varies with the population studied. In the general population, ED is present in 18-52% of men in younger to older age groups and in 43-76% of men with different medical conditions.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: For depression, ketamine is more conveniently administered by oral than by intravenous (iv) routes. The relative antidepressant efficacy of oral vs iv ketamine is unknown.
Objectives: To assess the acute efficacy and the persistence of improvement with open-label oral versus iv ketamine in outpatients with treatment-resistant depression (TRD).
Indian J Psychol Med
July 2024
This article presents a table containing redacted data from a real study. The table contains three curiosities: statistical significance in the absence of clinical significance, narrow standard deviations, and the absence of a placebo effect. The data in the table had been obtained by an inexperienced rater; how the inexperience compromised the data is explained.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFWomen with epilepsy (WWE) are usually advised antiepileptic drug (AED) treatment even during pregnancy. It is therefore important to know what the major congenital malformation (MCM) risks might be with untreated epilepsy, and with first-trimester exposure to different AEDs in monotherapy. This article reviews recent findings from a large multinational registry, a large multinational population based study, and a large meta-analysis.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFIn research, outcomes are often categorized as primary and secondary. The primary outcome is the most important one; it determines whether the study is considered 'successful' or not. Secondary outcomes are chosen because they provide supporting evidence for the results of the primary outcome or additional information about the subject being studied.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe age-standardized global prevalence of epilepsy is about 0.3% in women. Seizures are associated with morbidity and mortality risks; so, women with epilepsy (WWE) are usually advised antiepileptic drug (AED) treatment even during pregnancy.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFSchizophrenia is a major mental illness that is managed with long-term antipsychotic medication as a standard of care. Antipsychotic medications, however, are associated with many subjective and objective adverse effects. These adverse effects have driven the study of risk-mitigation strategies such as targeted intermittent therapy and dose reduction and drug discontinuation.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFIntroduction: Benzodiazepine (BDZP) and/or z-hypnotic dispensing during pregnancy has increased globally, as have rates of autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). This systematic review and meta-analysis aimed to estimate the association between gestational exposure to BDZP and/or z-hypnotics and diagnosis of ASD or ADHD in offspring.
Methods: We searched MEDLINE, EMBASE, and SCOPUS from inception till December 2023 for relevant English-language articles.
A factorial design examines the effects of two independent variables on a single, continuous dependent variable. The statistical test employed to analyze the data is a two-way analysis of variance (ANOVA). This test yields three results: a main effect for each of the independent variables and an interaction effect between the two independent variables.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFManagement of negative symptoms is one of the most challenging and important unmet needs of schizophrenia treatment. Negative symptoms together with positive symptoms result in significant psychosocial impairment and poor quality of life. Existing studies on atypical antipsychotics reported limited treatment adherence due to higher prevalence of treatment-emergent adverse events, such as diabetes, weight gain, hyperlipidemia, hyperprolactinemia and hypertension.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFResearch outcomes in mental health disciplines are usually assessed using rating instruments that were developed as English language versions. However, in countries such as India, English is not the native language, and patients at even a single research center may speak in different regional tongues. It is permissible to assess such patients using rater-administered English language instruments designed to be scored after an unstructured interview conducted in the patient's preferred language.
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