Underlying factors in the association between depressed mood and mobility limitation in older people

BACKGROUND: Depressed mood may either precede mobility limitation or follow from mobility limitation. OBJECTIVE: To compare mood status among people with manifest mobility limitation, those with preclinical mobility limitation and those without mobility limitation and investigate factors explaining the association between depressed mood and mobility limitation. DESIGN: Cross-sectional. Subjects: 645 community-living 75- to 81-year-old people. METHODS: Depressed mood was assessed using the Centre for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale (CES-D, cut-off score 16); difficulty walking 500 m was assessed by self-report. Those reporting difficulty were categorised as having manifest mobility limitation. Those with no difficulty but reporting task modifications, such as reduced frequency of walking, were categorised as having preclinical mobility limitation. The association between depressed mood and mobility limitation was analysed using logistic regression analysis with gender, age, economic situation, the availability of a confidant, chronic conditions, and widespread pain as covariates. RESULTS: Depressed mood was found in 34% of subjects with manifest mobility limitation, in 26% of those with preclinical mobility limitation, and in 13% of those without mobility limitation. The unadjusted odds ratio for depressed mood was 3.43 (95% CI 2.04-5.76) among subjects with manifest mobility limitation and 2.38 (95% CI 1.52-3.73) among those with preclinical mobility limitation, compared to those without mobility limitation.Adjustment for covariates reduced the risks to 2.10 (95% CI 1.15-3.82) and 1.99 (95% CI 1.24-3.20), respectively. Widespread pain explained 28% of the increased risk of depressed mood among those with manifest mobility limitation. CONCLUSION: The dose-response relationship between depressed mood and mobility limitation suggests that both conditions may progress simultaneously and may share aetiology, at least in part. Pain may be an underlying factor in both depressed mood and mobility limitation.     

EssenCES, a short questionnaire for assessing the social climate of forensic psychiatric wards

BACKGROUND: A supportive ward atmosphere is considered by many to be a precondition for successful treatment in forensic psychiatry, but there is a clear need for a valid and economic climate evaluation instrument. AIMS: To validate a short questionnaire, designed for assessing forensic psychiatric wards. Climate dimensions measured with the 'Essen Climate Evaluation Schema' (EssenCES) are 'Therapeutic Hold', 'Patients' Cohesion and Mutual Support' and 'Safety' (versus threat of aggression and violence). METHOD: In 17 forensic mental hospitals in Germany, patients and staff completed the EssenCES and other questionnaires. Problematic events were recorded over a period of 3 weeks on each ward. RESULTS: The anticipated three factor structure of the instrument was confirmed. The pattern of correlations also provided support for the validity of the subscales. CONCLUSIONS: The climate questionnaire is an economic and valid instrument for assessing the ward atmosphere in forensic psychiatry. Findings from a pilot study in England give confidence to the structural validity of the English version too.     

Body mass index does not improve the ability to predict biochemical recurrence after radical prostatectomy

PurposeTo test whether body mass index (BMI) improves pre- or post-operative biochemical recurrence (BCR) predictions after radical prostatectomy.Materials and methodsPre- and post-operative data were available in 2416 and 2499 men, respectively. Cox regression models addressed the association between BMI and the rate of BCR after adjusting for pre- and post-operative predictors. Predictive accuracy was quantified using Harrell’s concordance index, with and without BMI and subjected to 200 bootstraps to reduce overfit bias. Differences in predictive accuracy were compared using the Mantel–Haenszel test.ResultsAfter adjusting for either pre- or post-operative variables, increasing BMI was a statistically independent risk factor of BCR in both models (both p ⩽ 0.003). Its addition to pre- and post-operative variables respectively increased predictive accuracy measures from 69.6 to 70.2% (+0.6%, p = 0.7) and from 78.1 to 78.4% (+0.3%, p = 0.8).ConclusionOur data emphasise that despite its significance, inclusion of BMI into models, to predict BCR, does not improve their accuracy.     

Effect of Physical Activity Counseling on Disability in Older People: A 2‐Year Randomized Controlled Trial

OBJECTIVES: To study the effect of a physical activity counseling intervention on instrumental activity of daily living (IADL) disability. DESIGN: Primary care–based, single‐blind, randomized controlled trial. SETTING: City of Jyväskylä, central Finland. PARTICIPANTS: Six hundred thirty‐two people aged 75 to 81 who were able to walk 500 meters without assistance, were at most moderately physically active, had a Mini‐Mental State Examination score greater than 21, had no medical contraindications for physical activity, and gave informed consent for participation. INTERVENTION: A single individualized physical activity counseling session with supportive phone calls from a physiotherapist every 4 months for 2 years and annual lectures on physical activity. Control group received no intervention. MEASUREMENTS: The outcome was IADL disability defined as having difficulties in or inability to perform IADL tasks. Analyses were carried out according to baseline IADL disability, mobility limitation, and cognitive status. RESULTS: At the end of the follow‐up, IADL disability had increased in both groups (P<.001) and was lower in the intervention group, but the group‐by‐time interaction effect did not reach statistical significance. Subgroup analyses revealed that the intervention prevented incident disability in subjects without disability at baseline (risk ratio=0.68, 95% confidence interval=0.47–0.97) but had no effect on recovery from disability. CONCLUSION: The physical activity counseling intervention had no effect on older sedentary community‐dwelling persons with a wide range of IADL disability, although it prevented incident IADL disability. The results warrant further investigation to explore the benefits of a primary care–based physical activity counseling program on decreasing and postponing IADL disability.     

Adjunctive lithium treatment in the prevention of suicidal behaviour in depressive disorders: a randomised, placebo-controlled, 1-year trial

Objective: Evidence based on controlled studies is still limited for treatment strategies that prevent recurrence of suicide attempts. Findings from observational as well as meta‐analytic studies strongly suggest that lithium may have suicide‐protective properties. Method: Patients with a recent suicide attempt in the context of an affective spectrum disorder (n = 167) were treated with either lithium or placebo during a 12‐month period. Results: Survival analysis showed no significant difference of suicidal acts between lithium and placebo‐treated individuals (adjusted hazard ratio 0.517; 95% CI 0.18–1.43). However, post hoc analysis revealed that all completed suicides had occurred in the placebo group accounting for a significant difference in incidence rates (P = 0.049). Conclusion: Results indicate that lithium treatment might be effective in reducing the risk of completed suicide in adult patients with affective disorders. Our findings contribute to the growing body of evidence suggesting a specific antisuicidal effect of lithium.     

Surgical treatment concepts for patients with pancreatic cancer in Germany—results from a national survey conducted among members of the “Chirurgische Arbeitsgemeinschaft Onkologie” (CAO) and the “Arbeitsgemeinschaft Internistische Onkologie” (AIO) of the Germany Cancer Society (DKG)

Background  

To date, only limited data are available regarding the routine surgical management of patients with exocrine pancreatic cancer (PC) in German community and university hospitals.     

Late new morbidity in survivors of adolescent and young-adulthood brain tumors in Finland: a registry-based study

Background

Brain tumors (BTs) in adolescence and young adulthood (AYA) differ from those in childhood or late adulthood. However, research concerning late effects in this particular survivor group is limited. This study evaluates late morbidity of survivors diagnosed in AYAs.

Methods

We identified from the Finnish Cancer Registry all survivors diagnosed with BT at the ages 16–24 years between 1970 and 2004 (N = 315) and used data from the Hospital Discharge Registry to evaluate their late (≥5 y after diagnosis) morbidity requiring treatment in a specialized health care setting. A sibling cohort of BT patients diagnosed before the age of 25 years was used as a comparison cohort (N = 3615).

Results

The AYA BT survivors had an increased risk for late-appearing endocrine diseases (HR, 2.9; 95% CI, 1.1–8.0), psychiatric disorders (HR, 2.0; 95% CI, 1.2–3.2), diseases of the nervous system (HR, 9; 95% CI, 6.6–14.0), disorders of vision/hearing loss (HR, 3.6; 95% CI, 1.5–8.5), diseases of the circulatory system (HR, 4.9; 95% CI, 2.9–8.1), and diseases of the kidney (HR, 5.9; 95% CI, 2.5–14.1). Survivors with irradiation had an increased risk for diseases of the nervous system compared with non-irradiated survivors (HR, 3.3; 95% CI, 1.8–6.2). The cumulative prevalence for most of the diagnoses remained significantly increased for survivors even 20 years after cancer diagnosis.

Conclusions

The AYA BT survivors have an increased risk of morbidity for multiple new outcomes for ≥5 years after their primary diagnosis. This emphasizes the need for structured late-effect follow-up for this patient group.     

Late psychiatric morbidity in survivors of cancer at a young age: A nationwide registry‐based study

Childhood cancer survivors have been shown to be prone to psychosocial adverse outcomes. Data on young adults and their psychiatric late effects are still scarce. In a nationwide, registry‐based study, we explored the risk (HR) of new psychiatric diagnoses in 5‐year survivors of childhood and young adulthood (YA) cancer (n = 13,860) compared with a sibling cohort (n = 43,392). Hazard ratios (HRs) were calculated using Cox regression models. Patients and siblings were identified from the Finnish Cancer Registry and Central Population Registry, respectively. Outcome diagnoses were retrieved from the national hospital discharge register. The risk of organic memory/brain disorders was significantly increased in both childhood (HR 4.9; 95%CI 2.7–8.9) and YA (HR 2.1; 95%CI 1.4–3.1) cancer survivors compared with siblings. Mood disorders were also more common in childhood (HR 1.3; 95%CI 1.1–1.7) and YA survivors (1.3; 95%CI 1.1–1.5) than in siblings. Radiotherapy did not explain the differences. Female childhood cancer survivors had significantly increased HRs for mood disorders, psychotic disorders, neurotic/anxiety disorders, somatization/eating disorders and personality disorders. In survivors of YA cancers, females had significantly increased HR for neurotic/anxiety disorders, and the difference between female survivors and siblings was significantly (p < 0.05) higher than that between male survivors and male siblings. The effect of treatment era was also analyzed, and the risk of organic memory and brain disorders in childhood cancer survivors did not diminish over time. Despite the trend of decreased use of cranial irradiation in children, the risk of organic memory/brain disorders was elevated, even during the most recent era. Thus, additional research on chemotherapy‐only protocols and their impact on mental health, is warranted.