Recurrent depression predicts high leptin concentrations in patients with coronary artery disease over an 18-months follow-up period: Findings from the prospective multicenter randomized controlled SPIRR-CAD Trial.

Background: Leptin, an adipokine suspected to play a role in coronary artery disease (CAD), may also be associated with deteriorated mental health. We investigated the prospective impact of recurrent depressed mood (RDM) on heightened plasma leptin levels in CAD patients.

Methods: Derived from the randomized SPIRR-CAD trial, plasma leptin were measured by the Human Leptin DuoSet ELISA at baseline in 539 patients (including 115 (21.

Stress Management Intervention for Leaders Increases Nighttime SDANN: Results from a Randomized Controlled Trial.

Stress management interventions aim to reduce the disease risk that is heightened by work stress. Possible pathways of risk reduction include improvements in the autonomous nervous system, which is indexed by the measurement of heart rate variability (HRV). A randomized controlled trial on improving stress management skills at work was conducted to investigate the effects of intervention on HRV.

Distress in hospitalized cancer patients: Associations with personality traits, clinical and psychosocial characteristics.

Objective: To improve allocation of psychosocial care and to provide patient-oriented support offers, identification of determinants of elevated distress is needed. So far, there is a lack of evidence investigating the interplay between individual disposition and current clinical and psychosocial determinants of distress in the inpatient setting.

Methods: In this cross-sectional study, we investigated 879 inpatients with different cancer sites treated in a German Comprehensive Cancer Center.

Association Between Daily Worry, Pathological Worry, and Fear of Progression in Patients With Cancer.

Fear of progression (FoP), or fear of cancer recurrence (FCR), is characterized by worries or concerns about negative illness-related future events. Actually, to worry is a common cognitive process that, in its non-pathological form, belongs to daily life. However, worry can also become pathological appearing as a symptom of mental disorders.

Benefit finding in long-term prostate cancer survivors.

Purpose: Benefit finding (BF) represents possible positive changes that people may experience after cancer diagnosis and treatment and has proven to be valuable to the psychological outcome. Knowledge of such beneficial consequences of prostate cancer (PCa) is limited in long-term survivors (> 5 years). Thus, the present study investigated the occurrence of benefit finding (BF) and its determinants in a large sample of (very-) long-term PCa survivors.

Effectiveness of a Brief Psychotherapeutic Intervention for Employees With Psychosomatic and Psychosocial Complaints-Pilot Study of a Consultation Off the Workplace.

Employees' mental health impairments are a leading reason for sickness-leave and early retirement. This is why a large number of different intervention programmes have evolved in recent years with the aim of counteracting this development. Our study evaluates a short-term cognitive-behavioral psychotherapeutic intervention off the workplace.

Distress in cancer patients: Who are the main groups at risk?

Objectives: Psychosocial distress is common in cancer patients and survivors and encompasses a broad range of concerns and psychological symptoms. The aim of the current study was to identify subgroups of respondents who experience a specific constellation of distress symptoms.

Methods: This study uses data from a large data base (n = 21 680) of cancer patients from diverse settings who provided data in the Questionnaire on Distress in Cancer Patients-Short Form (QSC-R10).

Factors associated with the decline of psychological support in hospitalized patients with cancer.

Objective: Many distressed cancer patients do not want or, finally, do not use psychological support. This study aimed at identifying factors associated with the decline of psychological support during hospital stay.

Methods: This cross-sectional study included inpatients with different cancer diagnoses.

Standardized Screening and Psycho-oncological Treatment of Orthopedic Cancer Patients.

Background/aim: Psycho-oncological distress is a relevant clinical problem. The aim of this study was to administer a standardized psycho-oncological distress screening for early identification and indication-based treatment of highly distressed orthopedic cancer patients as well as the evaluation of distress patterns.

Patients And Methods: In total, 35 patients with cancer were psycho-oncologically screened using a cancer-specific expert rating scale (Basic Documentation for Psycho-Oncology Short Form) at three different time points (day of admission, day before discharge, 3 months postoperatively).

Anxiety, depression, and health-related quality of life in aging people living with HIV compared to diabetes patients and patients with minor health conditions: a longitudinal study.

HIV infection has evolved from a fatal to a treatable condition, leading to an increase in the rate of elderly People Living with HIV (PLWH). However, little is known about the psychosocial burden of elderly PLWH. Thus, the aim of this longitudinal multi-center cohort study was to investigate whether elderly PLWH experience more anxiety and depression and reduced health related quality of life (HRQOL) compared to elderly patients with other chronic conditions.

Prostate cancer-related anxiety in long-term survivors after radical prostatectomy.

Purpose: Knowledge of the psychological distress of long- and very long-term (>10 years) prostate cancer (PC) survivors is limited. This study intended to examine the parameters influencing anxiety related to prostate-specific antigen (PSA) and PC in long-term survivors after radical prostatectomy.

Methods: We surveyed 4719 PC survivors from the German multicenter prospective database "Familial Prostate Cancer.

Long-term stability of diurnal salivary cortisol and alpha-amylase secretion patterns.

This study aimed to investigate long-term stability and variability of diurnal cortisol and alpha-amylase patterns. Diurnal cortisol and alpha-amylase secretion patterns were assessed on a single workday with three waves of measurement across a total time period of 24months in 189 participants. Separate hierarchical linear models were analyzed, with and without a number of potential predictor variables (age, BMI, smoking, chronic stress, stress reactivity).

Room for depressed and exhausted mood as a risk predictor for all-cause and cardiovascular mortality beyond the contribution of the classical somatic risk factors in men.

Background And Aims: Depressed mood and exhaustion (DEEX) have gained attention as a risk predictor for cardiovascular disease (CVD). Studies to estimate its ranking in prediction models are sparse.

Methods: The study included 3428 men aged 45-74 years who participated in one of three population-based MONICA/KORA Augsburg surveys conducted between 1984 and 1995.

[Self-concept and erectile dysfunction in 45-year-old men : Results of a corollary study of the PROBASE trial].

Background: Self-concept consists of self-perceptions and is influenced by the life course of the person.

Objectives: This study investigated associations between self-concept and erectile dysfunction (ED) in 45-year-old German men.

Materials And Methods: Forty-five-year-old, heterosexual men who had participated in the PROBASE-study were included.

The Basic Documentation for Psycho-Oncology Short Form (PO-Bado SF)--an expert rating scale for distress screening: development and psychometric properties.

Background: The aim of this study is to validate the Basic Documentation for Psycho-Oncology Short Form (PO-Bado SF), a six item interview-based expert rating scale for distress screening in cancer patients.

Methods: Using a heterogeneous multicenter study sample (n = 1551), we examined validity, reliability, and dimensionality of the PO-Bado SF. The Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS), the Distress Thermometer, the Questionnaire on Stress in Cancer, and the Patient Health Questionnaire were used to investigate convergent validity.

Comorbidity of fear of progression and anxiety disorders in cancer patients.

Objective: The relation between fear of progression (FoP) and anxiety disorders remains unclear. Therefore, we investigated the comorbidity between clinical FoP and psychiatric anxiety disorders.

Method: In this cross-sectional study, 341 cancer patients undergoing acute inpatient care participated.

Influence of family history on psychosocial distress and perceived need for treatment in prostate cancer survivors.

Familial clustering is common in prostate cancer (PCa), but the psychosocial consequences of being a PCa patient in an affected family are not well understood. This study investigated the effects of family history of PCa on psychosocial distress and perceived psychosocial treatment need. Data were gathered within the German national research project "Familial Prostate Cancer".

["Fit4You"--A Programme for Prevention and Reduction of Overweight in Apprentices in the Workplace Setting].

The effect of health promotion at the worksite for overweight adolescents is not known. This 2-year intervention study examined the effect of a multimodal programme including nutrition counselling, sport, and life-skill training on medical and psychological outcomes. The body mass index increased slightly less in the intervention group.

[Stress Management Interventions at the Workplace Improve Perceived Stress Reactivity of Men at Higher Risk].

A randomised controlled trial was conducted in a metal working plant. The primary endpoint was perceived stress reactivity (Stress Reactivity Scale, SRS). 174 participants were randomly assigned to a stress-management intervention (SMI) (IG) or a waiting control group (CG).

[Effects of inpatient rehabilitation on long-term health-related quality of life in patients with cancer and rheumatoid arthritis: an analysis based on the classification of therapeutic procedures codes (KTL)].

Objectives: This explorative study investigated associations among the amount of different rehabilitative interventions, based on the classification of therapeutic procedures codes (KTL), and long-term health-related quality of life in patients with cancer or rheumatoid arthritis.

Methods: 3 therapeutic modules of rehabilitative interventions were defined on the basis of KTL codes: (i) somatic interventions, (ii) psychological interventions, and (iii) medical counselling. Based on a median-split, patients were classified in 2 groups with low vs.

[Feasibility and acceptance of computer-based assessment for the identification of psychosocially distressed patients in routine clinical care].

This study investigated feasibility and acceptance of computer-based assessment for the identification of psychosocial distress in routine radiotherapy care. 155 cancer patients were assessed using QSC-R10, PO-Bado-SF and Mach-9. The congruence between computerized tablet PC and conventional paper assessment was analysed in 50 patients.

Health-related quality of life supersedes other psychosocial predictors of long-term survival in cancer patients undergoing radiotherapy.

Background: To investigate the prognostic value of several psychosocial factors for long-term survival in cancer patients.

Material And Methods: Baseline data were gathered in routine radiotherapy practice during 44 months. The analysis is based on 938 patients for whom follow-up data were available.

Determinants and trajectory of phobic anxiety in patients living with an implantable cardioverter defibrillator.

Objective: The implantable cardioverter defibrillator (ICD) is the gold standard therapy to prevent life-threatening arrhythmias. Phobic anxiety predicts ventricular arrhythmia in coronary heart disease patients, but little is known about phobic anxiety in ICD patients. This study aimed to identify determinants and the course of phobic anxiety in ICD patients.

Patient satisfaction during radiation therapy. Correlates and patient suggestions.

Background: Assessing patient satisfaction might help to detect so far unknown patient needs and could contribute to quality assurance within the health care system. We evaluated patient satisfaction and its correlates in a consecutive sample of patients undergoing external beam radiation therapy.

Patients And Methods: Patient satisfaction was evaluated within a prospective study with two validated instruments (FPZ, ZUF-8) during the first week of radiation therapy in two university-based radiation oncology departments.