Telephone-Based Depression Care Management for Postpartum Women: A Randomized Controlled Trial.

Objective: With a period prevalence of 21.9% in the year after birth, depression is a common complication of childbearing. We assessed the impact of telephone-delivered depression care management (DCM) on symptom levels, health service utilization, and functional status 3, 6, and 12 months postpartum.

Does fetal exposure to SSRIs or maternal depression impact infant growth?

Objective: The aim of this study was to compare the growth of infants born to women with antenatal major depressive disorder, either untreated or treated with selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor (SSRI) antidepressants, and infants born to a nondepressed, nonmedicated comparison group across the first year of life.

Method: In this prospective observational study, pregnant women were evaluated at weeks 20, 30, and 36 of gestation, and mother and infant pairs were assessed at 2, 12, 26, and 52 weeks postpartum. Three nonoverlapping groups of women were defined according to their pregnancy exposures: 1) no SSRI and no depression (N=97), 2) SSRI (N=46), and 3) major depression without SSRI (N=31).

Onset timing, thoughts of self-harm, and diagnoses in postpartum women with screen-positive depression findings.

Importance: The period prevalence of depression among women is 21.9% during the first postpartum year; however, questions remain about the value of screening for depression.

Objectives: To screen for depression in postpartum women and evaluate positive screen findings to determine the timing of episode onset, rate and intensity of self-harm ideation, and primary and secondary DSM-IV disorders to inform treatment and policy decisions.

The effect of gastric bypass on the pharmacokinetics of serotonin reuptake inhibitors.

Objective: Morbidly obese patients frequently present with mood and anxiety disorders, which are often treated with serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SRIs). Having observed that patients treated with SRIs frequently relapse after Roux-en-Y gastric bypass surgery, the authors sought to assess whether SRI bioavailability is reduced postoperatively.

Method: Twelve gastric bypass candidates treated with an SRI for primary mood or anxiety disorders were studied prospectively.

A pilot study of standardized treatment in geriatric bipolar disorder.

Objective: The authors sought to determine the feasibility of treating elderly adults with bipolar disorder under standardized-treatment conditions.

Methods: Thirty-one patients age 60 and older with bipolar disorder were treated in standardized pathways. Mood state was checked at each study visit with the Hamilton Rating Scale for Depression-17 item (Ham-D-17) and the Young Mania Rating Scale (YMRS).

Cognitive functioning in late-life bipolar disorder.

Objective: This study characterized cognitive functioning in elderly patients with bipolar disorder.

Method: The cognitive functioning of 18 euthymic patients with a history of bipolar disorder I or II, ages 60 years and older, was tested with the Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE), the Mattis Dementia Rating Scale, and the Executive Interview. Cognitive functioning in these subjects was compared with that of an age- and education-matched group of 45 comparison subjects without mood disorders.