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A simple eight-question survey administered soon after injury can help predict which of the 30 million Americans seeking hospital treatment for injuries each year may develop depression or post-traumatic stress, report Therese S. Richmond, PhD, CRNP, associate professor at the University of Pennsylvania School of Nursing, and her colleagues in General Hospital Psychiatry.
Proposals recommending routine screening of all children for autism gets a thumbs down from researchers at McMaster University. In a study in the online edition of the journal Pediatrics, the researchers say there is “not enough sound evidence to support the implementation of a routine population-based screening program for autism.”
Primary care doctors have long been on the front lines of depression treatment. Depression is listed as a diagnosis for 1 in 10 office visits and primary care doctors prescribe more than half of all antidepressants. Now doctors at the University of Michigan Health System have developed a new tool, which is called Remission Evaluation and Mood Inventory Tool, or REMIT, that may help family physicians better evaluate the extent to which a patient’s depression has improved. REMIT is in the public domain, and a link to download the REMIT is included in this report.
Two related studies released by this week by Geisinger Health System researchers identify specific genetic risks associated with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and help identify key psychosocial predictors that may lead to PTSD. The study was led by Joseph Boscarino, Ph.D., MPH, senior investigator for the Geisinger Center for Health Research.
While children with fetal alcohol spectrum disorders (FASD) are known to have deficits in verbal learning and recall, the specifics of these deficits remain unclear. This study compared the verbal learning and memory performance of children with heavy prenatal alcohol exposure (PAE) with that of children with attention-deficit/ hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and found that both groups of children have difficulty with learning and memory but in different ways.
Rutgers Alcohol Problem Index (RAPI), a widely used index for assessing adolescent drinking-related problems, was found to be effective at predicting the future alcohol dependence of teen-age drinkers, according to an Indiana University study which also found that the association was stronger for adolescent female drinkers. The results are available now online in advance of print in the journal Alcoholism: Clinical and Experimental Research. Check the end of this report for a link to download a free copy of the RAPI.
Many people want to keep driving after having a stroke, and many can do so safely. Simple tests in the office can help doctors determine who is more likely to be a safe driver after a stroke, according to research published in the February 22, 2011, print issue ofNeurology, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology.
In the current issue of Psychotherapy and Psychosomatics, investigators from the University of Bologna, Copenhagen and Cambridge present data that suggest that the most commonly used scale for assessing depression (the Hamilton Depression Rating Scale) may not be sufficient and another, more comprehensive and accurate, is available.
One out of every four or five students who visits a university health center for a routine cold or sore throat turns out to be depressed, but most centers miss the opportunity to identify these students because they do not screen for depression, according to new Northwestern Medicine research. About 2 to 3 percent of these depressed students have had suicidal thoughts or are considering suicide, the study found.
Consumers may place a high value on information to predict their future health, and may be willing to pay out of pocket to get it. In a national survey conducted by researchers at Tufts Medical Center, roughly 76% of people indicated that they would take a hypothetical predictive test to find out if they will later develop Alzheimer’s disease, breast or prostate cancer, or arthritis. On average, respondents were willing to pay $300 to $600, depending on the specific disease and the accuracy of the test.
