Improving patient satisfaction based on service quality in clinical trials: A cross-sectional study.

Background: Participants' satisfaction is an important factor in securing competitiveness in clinical trials. In many industries, such as healthcare, customer service quality has been analyzed to increase customer satisfaction. However, no study so far has attempted to measure participants' perceptions of service quality in the clinical trial area and identify its effect on participant satisfaction.

Association of salivary testosterone levels during the post-awakening period with age and symptoms suggestive of late-onset hypogonadism in men.

Background: The lack of association between serum testosterone levels and symptoms suggestive of hypogonadism is a significant barrier in the determination of late-onset hypogonadism (LOH) in men. This study explored whether testosterone levels increase after morning awakening, likewise the cortisol awakening response (CAR) in the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis, and whether testosterone levels during the post-awakening period are associated with age and symptoms suggestive of late-onset hypogonadism (LOH) in men.

Methods: Testosterone and cortisol levels were determined in saliva samples collected immediately upon awakening and 30 and 60 min after awakening, and scores of the Aging Males' Symptoms (AMS) questionnaire were obtained from 225 healthy adult men.

Comparative analysis of salivary cortisol measurements using different assay methods in relation to serum-free cortisol measurement.

Objectives: Salivary cortisol reflects the biologically active form of serum cortisol, offering a noninvasive evaluation method for the diurnal rhythm of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis. While liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) is known for its specificity, immunoassays (IA) are commonly used because of their simplicity. This study aimed to assess the performance of salivary cortisol measurement using both IA and LC-MS/MS in comparison to serum-free cortisol measurement.

Exploratory Clinical Trial of a Depression Diagnostic Software That Integrates Stress Biomarkers and Composite Psychometrics.

Objective: This study evaluated the clinical effectiveness of Minds.NAVI, a depression screening kit combining psychometric measures and stress hormone biomarkers, in a prospective clinical trial. The objective was to assess its potential as a depression screening tool and investigate the associations between psychological assessments, salivary hormone staging, and depression severity.

Advancing ecological validity and clinical utility in virtual reality-based continuous performance test: exploring the effects of task difficulty and environmental distractors.

Introduction: Researchers have highlighted concerns regarding the limited diagnostic utility and ecological validity of the Continuous Performance Test (CPT). Recent advancements in VR-based CPTs have attempted to address these concerns by simulating real-life scenarios and enhancing attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) diagnosis; however, certain areas require improvement for obtaining reliable data from both healthy individuals and those with ADHD. To tackle these issues, we developed an enhanced VR-based CPT program featuring four distinct difficulty levels, advancing toward home-based assessment.

Association and interaction between clinician-rated measures of depression and anxiety with heart rate variability in elderly patients with psychiatric disorders.

Background: Older adults are vulnerable to comorbid depression and anxiety symptoms; however, these conditions are widely underrecognized and often untreated. Understanding their combined manifestation using objective measurements, such as clinician-rated scales and heart rate variability (HRV), can help refine the diagnosis and select a treatment strategy for geriatric patients.

Methods: This study included patients over 65 years who were mainly diagnosed with either category of depressive or anxiety disorders from the psychiatric outpatient clinic in a university hospital.

The Prevalence and Clinical Characteristics of Borderline Personality Disorder in South Korea Using National Health Insurance Service Customized Database.

Purpose: The purpose of the present study was to identify the prevalence and clinical characteristics of borderline personality disorder (BPD) in South Korea using the Korean National Health Insurance database (DB).

Materials And Methods: We used the National Health Insurance Service (NHIS)'s research DB (NHIS-2021-1-790) from January 1, 2010 to December 31, 2019, to make customized DB including sociodemographic information and absence or presence of BPD and other psychiatric disorders. The prevalence and the age of onset of BPD was estimated.

Differential relationship of observer-rated and self-rated depression and anxiety scales with heart rate variability features.

Heart rate variability (HRV) is a known psychophysiological marker for diverse psychiatric symptoms. In this study, we aimed to explore the potential for clinical use of HRV by investigating the interrelationship between HRV indices and clinical measures mainly used to assess depressive and anxious symptoms. Participants who reported depressive and anxious symptoms were designated into the following groups: group 1, clinician-rated and self-rated depression; group 2, only self-rated depression; group 3, clinician-rated and self-rated anxiety; group 4, only self-rated anxiety.

Effect of developmental stress on the neuronal circuits related to excitation-inhibition balance and mood in adulthood.

Introduction: Traumatic events in early life have a deleterious effect on the development of normal brain developments, which may be a cause of various psychiatric disorders in adulthood. Most prior studies focused on molecular biological aspects, and research on functional changes in neural circuits is still limited. We aimed to elucidate the effect of early life stress on excitation-inhibition and serotonergic neurotransmission in the adulthood using non-invasive functional molecular imaging (positron emission tomography, PET).

Risk of Secondary Cancer after Adjuvant Tamoxifen Treatment for Ductal Carcinoma In Situ: A Nationwide Cohort Study in South Korea.

Endocrine therapy is the mainstay treatment for hormone receptor-positive ductal carcinoma in situ. The aim of this study was to examine the long-term secondary malignancy risk of tamoxifen therapy. The data of patients diagnosed with breast cancer between January 2007 and December 2015 were retrieved from the database of the Health Insurance Review and Assessment Service of South Korea.

Virtual reality-based monitoring test for MCI: A multicenter feasibility study.

Objectives: As the significance of the early diagnosis of mild cognitive impairment (MCI) has emerged, it is necessary to develop corresponding screening tools with high ecological validity and feasible biomarkers. Virtual reality (VR)-based cognitive assessment program, which is close to the daily life of the older adults, can be suitable screening tools for MCI with ecological validity and accessibility. Meanwhile, dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA) has been observed at a low concentration in the older adults with dementia or cognitive decline, indicating its potential as a biomarker of MCI.

Marked Reduction in the Risk of Dementia in Patients with Breast Cancer: A Nationwide Population-Based Cohort Study.

Purpose: An inverse relationship between cancer and neurodegenerative disease, which presents the possibility of a reduced risk of dementia in cancer patients, has been suggested previously. However, a nationwide longitudinal population-based study of specific types of cancer with due consideration of treatment effects has not been conducted.

Materials And Methods: This nationwide population-based cohort study used data obtained in a 12-year period (January 2007- December 2018) in the Korean National Health Insurance claims database.

Risk of developing depression from endocrine treatment: A nationwide cohort study of women administered treatment for breast cancer in South Korea.

Background: Although previous studies demonstrated no association between depression and tamoxifen in patients with breast cancer, there is still a limited amount of long-term follow-up data. This study aimed to evaluate the relationship between endocrine treatment and the risk of depression.

Methods: This nationwide population-based cohort study used data obtained over a 14-year period (January 2007 to December 2021) from the Korean National Health Insurance claims database.

Association between social phobia and the risk of arrhythmia using the Korean National Sample Cohort: a retrospective cohort study.

Background: Social phobia shares symptoms with arrhythmias, such as palpitations and chest discomfort. However, it is unclear how social phobia is associated with the actual risk of arrhythmia. This study aimed to investigate whether social phobia is associated with the risk of arrhythmia using a nationally representative sample cohort.

Neutrophil-Lymphocyte Ratio as a Potential Biomarker for Delirium in the Intensive Care Unit.

Recognition and early detection of delirium in the intensive care unit (ICU) is essential to improve ICU outcomes. To date, neutrophil-lymphocyte ratio (NLR), one of inflammatory markers, has been proposed as a potential biomarker for brain disorders related to neuroinflammation. This study aimed to investigate whether NLR could be utilized in early detection of delirium in the ICU.

Evaluation of the Effects of Developmental Trauma on Neurotransmitter Systems Using Functional Molecular Imaging.

Early life stress (ELS) is strongly associated with psychiatric disorders such as anxiety, depression, and schizophrenia in adulthood. To date, biological, behavioral, and structural aspects of ELS have been studied extensively, but their functional effects remain unclear. Here, we examined NeuroPET studies of dopaminergic, glutamatergic, and serotonergic systems in ELS animal models.

Association between Polymorphism and Depressive Symptoms in Patients Newly Diagnosed with Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus.

Purpose: Little is known about the relationship between brain-derived neurotrophic factor () gene polymorphisms and psychiatric symptoms in diabetes patients. We investigated the effects of Val/66/Met polymorphism, glucose status, psychological susceptibility, and resilience on anxiety and depression symptoms in patients newly diagnosed with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM).

Materials And Methods: We examined biochemical factors and polymorphism in 89 patients who were newly diagnosed with T2DM.

Rapid Symptom Improvement in Major Depressive Disorder Using Accelerated Repetitive Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation.

Objective: Repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) has contributed to increase in the remission rate for patients with major depressive disorder (MDD). However, current rTMS treatment is practically inconvenient because it requires daily treatment sessions for several weeks. Accelerated rTMS treatment is as efficient and safe for MDD patients as conventional rTMS.

Maladaptive Alterations of Defensive Response Following Developmental Complex Stress in Rats.

Objective: Despite the etiological significance of complex developmental trauma in adult personality disorders and treatment-resistant depression, neurobiological studies have been rare due to the lack of useful animal models. As a first step, we devised an animal model to investigate the effects of multiple trauma-like stress during different developmental periods.

Methods: Twenty-one male Sprague-Dawley rats were classified into 3 groups based on the stress protocol: fear conditioning control (FCC, n = 6), complex stress (ComS, n = 9), and control (n = 6).

Preliminary Findings on the Effectiveness of Meaning-Centered Psychotherapy in Patients with Pancreatobiliary Cancer.

Purpose: This study investigated the effectiveness of meaning-centered psychotherapy (MCP), which is known to be a helpful psychotherapeutic intervention in distressing conditions, for patients with pancreatobiliary cancer.

Materials And Methods: We recruited 37 patients with pancreatobiliary cancer from three university general hospitals and assessed their psychological characteristics. Patients who reported clinically significant emotional distress were recommended to undergo MCP.