Speech Pause Time as a Method for the Evaluation of Psychomotor Retardation in Depressive Illness

1985 ◽  
Vol 146 (5) ◽  
pp. 535-538 ◽  
Author(s):  
G. M. A. Hoffman ◽  
J. C. Gonze ◽  
J. Mendlewicz
Keyword(s):  
Reaction Time ◽  
Biological Markers ◽  
Sleep Latency ◽  
Depressive Illness ◽  
Psychomotor Retardation ◽  
Dexamethasone Suppression Test ◽  
Pause Time ◽  
Depressed Patients ◽  
Suppression Test ◽  
Dexamethasone Suppression

SummaryPsychomotor retardation is important in some depressed patients. We found that speech pause time (SPT) during a counting test correlated with the reaction time of both depressed patients and controls. It also correlated with global psychomotor retardation measured on Widlocher's scale. We demonstrated increased SPT in unipolar depressives, and also in retarded depressives as a group when compared with controls and with non-retarded depressives. SPT varied diurnally in controls, but not in depressed subjects. It did not correlate with biological markers of depression (REM sleep latency and the dexamethasone suppression test). It did, however, shorten during clinical improvement with antidepressant chemotherapy.

Defining Melancholia: Properties of a Refined Sign-Based Measure

1994 ◽  
Vol 164 (3) ◽  
pp. 316-326 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gordon Parker ◽  
Dusan Hadzi-Pavlovic ◽  
Kay Wilhelm ◽  
Ian Hickie ◽  
Henry Brodaty ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Reaction Time ◽  
Treatment Response ◽  
Biological Marker ◽  
Dexamethasone Suppression Test ◽  
Melancholic Depression ◽  
Independent Measure ◽  
Depressed Patients ◽  
Suppression Test ◽  
Dexamethasone Suppression ◽  
Response Variables

We hypothesised that psychomotor disturbance is specific to the melancholic subtype of depression and capable of defining melancholia more precisely than symptom-based criteria sets. We studied 413 depressed patients, and examined the utility of a refined, operationally driven set of clinician-rated signs, principally against a set of historically accepted symptoms of endogeneity. We specified items defining psychomotor disturbance generally as well as those weighted either to agitation or to retardation. We demonstrated the system's capacity to differentiate ‘melancholic’ and ‘non-melancholic’ depression (and the comparable success of DSM–III–R and Newcastle criteria systems) by reference to several patient, illness and treatment response variables, to an independent measure of psychomotor disturbance (reaction time) and to a biological marker (the dexamethasone suppression test).

The Dexamethasone Suppression Test for Melancholia

1982 ◽  
Vol 140 (3) ◽  
pp. 292-304 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bernard J. Carroll
Keyword(s):  
Differential Diagnosis ◽  
Adrenal Cortex ◽  
Depressive Illness ◽  
Dexamethasone Suppression Test ◽  
Neuroendocrine System ◽  
Biological Research ◽  
Biological Basis ◽  
Suppression Test ◽  
Dexamethasone Suppression

SummaryMelancholia is thought by many investigators to have a biological basis, and biological research, particularly on abnormalities of the neuroendocrine system and of the sleep electroencephalogram, is now beginning to yield results which can help in the differential diagnosis of depressive illness. This review will focus on the most widely studied neuroendocrine disturbance: disinhibition of the hypothalamus-pituitary-adrenal cortex (HPA) system as revealed by the dexamethasone suppression test (DST).

Performance of the Dexamethasone Suppression Test in Depressive Illness According to ICD and DSM-III Classification Systems

1988 ◽  
Vol 152 (4) ◽  
pp. 554-558 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sarah Watkins ◽  
Brian Harris ◽  
Nigel Cook ◽  
Roger Thomas ◽  
Diana Riad-Fahmy
Keyword(s):  
Major Depressive Episode ◽  
Depressive Illness ◽  
Dexamethasone Suppression Test ◽  
Classification Systems ◽  
Manic Depressive Illness ◽  
Major Depressive ◽  
Diagnostic Categories ◽  
Manic Depressive ◽  
Suppression Test ◽  
Dexamethasone Suppression

The performance of the dexamethasone suppression test was assessed in 90 consecutive admissions with a diagnosis of depression, categorised according to two classification systems (DSM-III and ICD-9). Non-suppression was found in most of the diagnostic categories, but there was a highly significant association with the DSM-III classification ‘major depressive episode with melancholia’ (52%) in comparison with the ICD group ‘manic-depressive illness-depressed’ (29%).

Prediction of Outcome in Depressed Patients by Weekly Monitoring with the Dexamethasone Suppression Test

1987 ◽  
Vol 151 (6) ◽  
pp. 780-784 ◽  
Author(s):  
I. Schweitzer ◽  
K. P. Maguire ◽  
A. H. Gee ◽  
J. W. G. Tiller ◽  
N. Biddle ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Depressive Illness ◽  
Poor Correlation ◽  
Prediction Of Outcome ◽  
Depressed Patients ◽  
Poor Outcome Group ◽  
Outcome Group ◽  
State Marker ◽  
Suppression Test ◽  
Dexamethasone Suppression ◽  
Lhpa Axis

Forty-three depressed patients in hospital were studied with weekly dexamethasone suppression tests (DSTs) and were followed as out-patients for at least three months after discharge. The detection rate of patients with LHPA axis dysfunction increased from 41% with a single DST to 59% with serial DSTs. There was a poor correlation between weekly post-dexamethasone cortisol levels and Hamilton depression rating scores. In patients with evidence of LHPA axis dysfunction, a DST at discharge discriminated effectively between a good and a poor outcome group; persistent non-suppression was strongly linked with a relapse of depression in the first three months after discharge. In general, our results support previous claims that the DST is a state marker for depressive illness.

A study of the dexamethasone suppression test in hospitalized depressed patients

1984 ◽  
Vol 144 (3) ◽  
pp. 311-313 ◽  
Author(s):  
D. Ames ◽  
G. Burrows ◽  
B. Davies ◽  
K. Maguire ◽  
T. Norman
Keyword(s):  
Dexamethasone Suppression Test ◽  
Depressed Patients ◽  
Suppression Test ◽  
Dexamethasone Suppression

National Differences in Dexamethasone Suppression Test Results and Suicide Rates

1991 ◽  
Vol 69 (3) ◽  
pp. 878-878
Author(s):  
David Lester
Keyword(s):  
Dexamethasone Suppression Test ◽  
Test Results ◽  
Depressed Patients ◽  
Suicide Rates ◽  
National Differences ◽  
Suppression Test ◽  
Dexamethasone Suppression

For 10 nations suicide rates were not correlated with the percentages of depressed patients who responded abnormally to the Dexamethasone Suppression Test.

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