Association Between Cognitive Function and Health Care Costs 3 Months and 6 Months After Initiating Antidepressant Medication for Depressive Disorders.

Background: Major depressive disorder is one of the most common and disabling mental health disorders and is associated with substantial costs in terms of direct health care utilization and workplace productivity. Cognitive dysfunction, which alone substantially increases health care costs, is commonly associated with major depressive disorder. However, the health care costs of cognitive dysfunction in the context of depressive disorder are unknown.

A simple rule to identify patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease who may need treatment reevaluation.

Background: A simple rule based on short-acting inhaled β2-agonist (SABA) use could identify patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) at increased risk of exacerbations and signal the need for maintenance therapy change, similar to asthma "Rules of Two(®)".

Methods: Associations between SABA use, COPD exacerbations, and health care costs over 1 year were examined retrospectively using de-identified patient data from the Optum Research Database (ORD; N = 56,581) and the Impact National Benchmark Database (IMPACT™; N = 9423). Nebulized and metered-dose inhaler (MDI) SABA doses were normalized to 2.

Depression monitoring and patient behavior in the Clinical Outcomes in MEasurement-Based Treatment (COMET) trial.

Objective: In this secondary analysis of results of the Clinical Outcomes in MEasurement-Based Treatment (COMET) trial, patient behaviors that might account for the differences observed in clinical outcomes were examined.

Methods: Patients (N=914) diagnosed as having major depressive disorder participated in telephone interviews either monthly for six months (intervention) or at three and six months (usual care) asking about antidepressant medication-taking, use of psychotherapy or counseling, and participation in depression support groups. Physicians (N=83) in the intervention arm received monthly feedback regarding their patients' depression severity.

Effect of communicating depression severity on physician prescribing patterns: findings from the Clinical Outcomes in MEasurement-based Treatment (COMET) trial.

Objective: In this secondary analysis from the Clinical Outcomes in MEasurement-based Treatment trial (COMET), we evaluated whether providing primary care physicians with patient-reported feedback regarding depression severity affected pharmacological treatment patterns.

Method: Intervention-arm physicians received their patients' 9-item Patient Health Questionnaire scores monthly. Odds of having no change in antidepressant treatment during the 6-month study period were calculated.