Chronic pain predicts a worse response to depression treatment, regardless of thyroid function or psychotropics prescribed.

Background: Chronic pain (CP) and thyroid hormones' (TH) abnormalities are associated with depression, but the impact of pain and TH fluctuation on the response to depression treatment is uncertain.

Methods: Eighty-eight patients with major depression were evaluated before and after 6 months of specific treatment, through scales of symptoms' severity (HAM-D-17), psychomotor disturbance (CORE), and quality of life (WHOQOL-Bref). We reviewed psychiatric medications and measured TSH, T3 and T4.

Which outcomes are most important to measure in patients with COVID-19 and how and when should these be measured? Development of an international standard set of outcomes measures for clinical use in patients with COVID-19: a report of the International Consortium for Health Outcomes Measurement (ICHOM) COVID-19 Working Group.

Objectives: The COVID-19 pandemic has resulted in widespread morbidity and mortality with the consequences expected to be felt for many years. Significant variation exists in the care even of similar patients with COVID-19, including treatment practices within and between institutions. Outcome measures vary among clinical trials on the same therapies.

Evaluation of major depression symptom networks using clinician-rated and patient-rated data.

Background: Major depressive disorder (MDD) is heterogeneous, but official diagnostic classifications and widely used rating scales are based on the premise that MDD is a single disorder and that symptoms are equally important to assess severity. Also, patients and clinicians frequently diverge in how they evaluate MDD severity. In order to better understand the differences between MDD scales used by clinicians and patients in the context of MDD heterogeneity, we performed a network analysis from an approach that focuses on the interaction of symptoms rather than total score.

Clinimetric Criteria for Patient-Reported Outcome Measures.

Patient-reported outcome measures (PROMs) are self-rated scales and indices developed to improve the detection of the patients' subjective experience. Given that a considerable number of PROMs are available, it is important to evaluate their validity and usefulness in a specific research or clinical setting. Published guidelines, based on psychometric criteria, do not fit in with the complexity of clinical challenges, because of their quest for homogeneity of components and inadequate attention to sensitivity.

First-time administration of the Sydney Melancholia Prototype Index (SMPI) to non-English-speaking patients: a study from Brazil.

Objective: The Sydney Melancholia Prototype Index (SMPI) is a scale that uses a non-conventional strategy to assess melancholia status based on prototypic symptoms and illness course variables. This study aimed to evaluate the performance of the first translation of this instrument in a non-English-speaking population.

Methods: A sample comprising 106 Brazilian outpatients with depression was evaluated simultaneously with the Brazilian version of the self-rated SMPI (SMPI-SR) and clinician-rated SMPI (SMPI-CR).

Sydney Melancholia Prototype Index (SMPI): translation and cross-cultural adaptation to Brazilian Portuguese.

Introduction: Depression is possibly not a single syndrome but rather comprises several subtypes. DSM-5 proposes a melancholia specifier with phenotypic characteristics that could be associated with clinical progression, biological markers or therapeutic response. The Sydney Melancholia Prototype Index (SMPI) is a prototypic scale aimed to improve the diagnosis of melancholia.

Validation of the WHOQOL-Bref instrument in Brazilian sign language (Libras).

Purpose: The recognition of the Brazilian Sign Language (Libras) as the official language of the Brazilian deaf, in 2002, reaffirms the linguistic and cultural particularities of the deaf population. Therefore, there is a lack of a validated instrument for assessing the Quality of Life of deaf people using Libras. With authorization from the World Health Organization (WHO), a version of the WHOQOL-Bref in Libras was developed, called WHOQOL-Bref/Libras.

Differential biomarker signatures in unipolar and bipolar depression: A machine learning approach.

Objective: This study used machine learning techniques combined with peripheral biomarker measurements to build signatures to help differentiating (1) patients with bipolar depression from patients with unipolar depression, and (2) patients with bipolar depression or unipolar depression from healthy controls.

Methods: We assessed serum levels of interleukin-2, interleukin-4, interleukin-6, interleukin-10, tumor necrosis factor-α, interferon-γ, interleukin-17A, brain-derived neurotrophic factor, lipid peroxidation and oxidative protein damage in 54 outpatients with bipolar depression, 54 outpatients with unipolar depression and 54 healthy controls, matched by sex and age. Depressive symptoms were assessed using the Hamilton Depression Rating Scale.

Increased Levels of Brain-Derived Neurotrophic Factor Are Associated With High Intrinsic Religiosity Among Depressed Inpatients.

Recognition of the importance of religion and spirituality in psychiatry is increasing, and several studies have shown a predominantly inverse relationship between religiosity and depression. Brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) is a widely studied brain neurotrophin responsible for synaptic plasticity, dendritic and neuronal fiber growth, and neuronal survival. The objective of the present study was to evaluate BDNF levels across high and low intrinsic religiosity (IR) in depressed inpatients.

Psychometric properties of the WHOQOL-SRPB BREF, Brazilian Portuguese version.

Objective: To test the reliability and the discriminant and convergent validity of the abbreviated Brazilian Portuguese World Health Organization's Quality of Life Instrument - Spirituality, Religion, and Personal Beliefs module (WHOQOL-SRPB BREF).

Methods: In a sample of 404 individuals, we applied a general questionnaire, the WHOQOL-BREF, the long-form SRPB, the Brief Religious-Spiritual Coping Scale (RCOPE), and the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI). Priority was given to the 9-item SRPB assessment: its unidimensionality was tested through confirmatory factor analysis and Rasch analysis.

How do depressed patients evaluate their quality of life? A qualitative study.

Background: This is a qualitative study that aims to investigate the effect of depressive status on responses to items on the WHO quality of life assessment instrument (WHOQOL-Bref), comparing which aspects of the individual's life he or she takes into account in responding to the items related to quality of life when depressed and when euthymic.

Results: Six adult women were interviewed prior to initiating treatment for a depressive episode and were then interviewed again six months later when in remission from the episode. The 'think aloud' method of cognitive interviewing was used.

Can Religious Coping and Depressive Symptoms Predict Clinical Outcome and Quality of Life in Panic Disorder? A Brazilian Longitudinal Study.

Few studies have investigated the relationship between spiritual/religious coping (S/R coping) and panic disorder (PD). This Brazilian longitudinal study evaluated if S/R coping and depressive symptoms can predict PD remission and improved quality of life (QoL). There were 101 outpatients with PD who were followed up for 12 to 16 weeks.

Physical Activity and Incident Depression: A Meta-Analysis of Prospective Cohort Studies.

Objective: The authors examined the prospective relationship between physical activity and incident depression and explored potential moderators.

Method: Prospective cohort studies evaluating incident depression were searched from database inception through Oct. 18, 2017, on PubMed, PsycINFO, Embase, and SPORTDiscus.

Psychometric properties of the EUROHIS-QOL 8-item index (WHOQOL-8) in a Brazilian sample.

Objective: To test the psychometric properties of the EUROHIS-QOL 8-item index in a Brazilian sample.

Methods: The sample consisted of 151 patients and 174 healthy controls (n=325). Several psychometric properties were tested.

Effectiveness evaluation of mood disorder treatment algorithms in Brazilian public healthcare patients.

Objective: To assess the effectiveness of three mood disorder treatment algorithms in a sample of patients seeking care in the Brazilian public healthcare system.

Methods: A randomized pragmatic trial was conducted with an algorithm developed for treating episodes of major depressive disorder (MDD), bipolar depressive episodes and mixed episodes of bipolar disorder (BD).

Results: The sample consisted of 259 subjects diagnosed with BD or MDD (DSM-IV-TR).

Predictors of length of stay in an acute psychiatric inpatient facility in a general hospital: a prospective study.

Objective: There have been significant reductions in numbers of psychiatric beds and length of stay (LOS) worldwide, making LOS in psychiatric beds an interesting outcome. The objective of this study was to find factors measurable on admission that would predict LOS in the acute psychiatric setting.

Methods: This was a prospective, observational study.

Val66Met polymorphism association with serum BDNF and inflammatory biomarkers in major depression.

Objectives: Current evidence supports participation of neurotrophic and inflammatory factors in the pathogenesis of major depressive disorder (MDD). Some studies reported an association between the Val66Met polymorphism (rs6265) of brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) gene with MDD and peripheral BDNF levels. However, no previous studies have examined the association of this polymorphism with inflammation.

Quality-of-life and spirituality.

Spirituality has been identified as an important dimension of quality-of-life. The objective of this study was to review the literature on quality-of-life and spirituality, their association, and assessment tools. A search was conducted of the keyterms 'quality-of-life' and 'spirituality' in abstract or title in the databases PsycINFO and PubMed/Medline between 1979-2005, complemented by a new search at PUBMED from 2006-2016.

Illness severity and biomarkers in depression: Using a unidimensional rating scale to examine BDNF.

Background: Numerous studies have reported reduced peripheral brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) in major depression (MD). However, most of these studies used multidimensional depression rating scales, and failed to identify a relationship between BDNF levels and depression severity. Unidimensional scales are a more valid measure of syndrome severity.

A naturalistic study of high-dose unilateral ECT among severely depressed inpatients: how does it work in the clinical practice?

Background: Naturalistic studies can be useful tools to understand how an intervention works in the real clinical practice. This study aims to investigate the outcomes in a naturalistically treated depressed inpatients cohort, who were referred, or not, to unilateral ECT.

Methods: Depressed adults according to MINI admitted in a psychiatric unit were divided in unilateral ECT treated and non-ECT treated.

Association between Spirituality and Adherence to Management in Outpatients with Heart Failure.

Background: Spirituality may influence how patients cope with their illness.

Objectives: We assessed whether spirituality may influence adherence to management of outpatients with heart failure.

Methods: Cross sectional study enrolling consecutive ambulatory heart failure patients in whom adherence to multidisciplinary treatment was evaluated.