Rate of improvement during and across three treatments for panic disorder with or without agoraphobia: cognitive behavioral therapy, selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor or both combined.

Background: Existing literature on panic disorder (PD) yields no data regarding the differential rates of improvement during Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitor (SSRI) or both combined (CBT+SSRI).

Method: Patients were randomized to CBT, SSRI or CBT+SSRI which each lasted one year including three months of medication taper. Participating patients kept record of the frequency of panic attacks throughout the full year of treatment.

A randomized trial of cognitive-behavioral therapy or selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor or both combined for panic disorder with or without agoraphobia: treatment results through 1-year follow-up.

Objective: To establish the long-term effectiveness of 3 treatments for DSM-IV panic disorder with or without agoraphobia: cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT), pharmacotherapy using a selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor (SSRI), or the combination of both (CBT + SSRI). As a secondary objective, the relationship between treatment outcome and 7 predictor variables was investigated.

Method: Patients were enrolled between April 2001 and September 2003 and were randomly assigned to treatment.

Association between lithium serum level, mood state, and patient-reported adverse drug reactions during long-term lithium treatment: a naturalistic follow-up study.

Objectives: To assess the association between mood state and the prevalence and the severity of lithium adverse drug reactions (ADRs).

Methods: A 26-year follow-up study was conducted among patients > or =18 years treated at the outpatient lithium clinic of the University Medical Center Groningen, The Netherlands, between November 1973 and December 2000. At each monthly scheduled visit, patients were questioned by a research nurse in a standardized manner about the presence and the severity of nine specific ADRs that frequently occur as a consequence of lithium treatment and that can be identified by the patients themselves.

The reliability and validity of the Seasonal Pattern Assessment Questionnaire: a comparison between patient groups.

Background: The Seasonal Pattern Assessment Questionnaire (SPAQ) is a frequently used screening instrument in the research on Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD). Nevertheless, studies on its reliability and validity are relatively scarce. In the present study the reliability and the contrast validity of the SPAQ are investigated.

Lithium concentrations in plasma of lithium-treated psychiatric patients in the Netherlands: commentary on Cusin et al.

Seasonal variations in 68 psychiatric patients receiving prophylactic lithium treatment in the Netherlands between 1974 and 1994 were analyzed and compared with findings from Italy. Although lithium doses remained stable, there was a significant change in plasma levels of lithium, with values in spring and summer tending to exceed those in autumn and winter. These findings are similar to those reported in Italy, although the maximal seasonal change was approximately 5% in the Netherlands compared with approximately 10% in Italy.