Anxiety and Depression After Thoracic Aortic Surgery or Coronary Artery Bypass.

Anxiety and depression after thoracic aortic surgery or coronary artery bypass.

Asian Cardiovasc Thorac Ann. 2013 Feb; 21(1): 22-30
Okamoto Y, Motomura N, Murashima S, Takamoto S

Background: although the outcome of thoracic aortic surgery has improved remarkably, mortality remains high, and mental distress is often present. Psychological outcomes of coronary artery disease have been increasingly researched but few studies have been conducted in thoracic aortic surgery patients. Objective: to compare the psychological outcomes of patients undergoing thoracic aortic surgery with those of patients undergoing coronary artery bypass grafting. Methods: a questionnaire was mailed to 190 patients who underwent thoracic aortic surgery or coronary artery bypass, at 1-5 years postoperatively. Psychological outcomes were assessed using the hospital anxiety and depression scale. Results: 128 patients responded; 49 had aortic surgery and 79 had coronary artery bypass. The incidence of borderline or significant anxiety was 14% in thoracic aortic surgery patients and 16% in coronary bypass patients; depression was present in 28% and 20%, respectively. Psychological outcome scores in the 2 groups did not differ significantly. Emergency surgery was associated with depression after aortic surgery, and symptoms such as chest pain and fatigue were associated with both anxiety and depression after coronary artery bypass. Conclusions: some psychological problems remain in the midterm following thoracic aortic surgery. While we expected a more psychologically compromised outcome in the thoracic aortic surgery group, psychological outcomes were quite similar to those in coronary artery bypass patients. The similarity of the profiles of both groups suggests that thoracic aortic surgery patients have a parallel course of midterm psychological improvement following surgery. HubMed – depression

Deaf Genetic Testing and Psychological Well-Being in Deaf Adults.

J Genet Couns. 2013 Feb 21;
Palmer CG, Boudreault P, Baldwin EE, Fox M, Deignan JL, Kobayashi Y, Sininger Y, Grody W, Sinsheimer JS

Limited data suggest that enhanced self-knowledge from genetic information related to non-medical traits can have a positive impact on psychological well-being. Deaf individuals undertake genetic testing for deaf genes to increase self-knowledge. Because deafness is considered a non-medical trait by many individuals, we hypothesized that deaf individuals receiving a genetic explanation for why they are deaf will experience increased psychological well-being. We report results from a prospective, longitudinal study to determine the impact of genetic testing (GJB2, Cx26; GJB6, Cx30) on perceived personal control (PPC), anxiety, and depression in deaf adults (N?=?209) assessed following pre-test genetic counseling as well as 1-month and 6-months following test result disclosure. Participants were classified as Cx positive (n?=?82) or Cx negative/inconclusive (n?=?127). There was significant evidence for Cx group differences in PPC and anxiety over time (PPC: Cx group*time interaction p?=?0.0007; anxiety: Cx group*time interaction p?=?0.002), where PPC scores were significantly higher, and anxiety scores were significantly lower for the Cx positive group relative to the negative/inconclusive group following test result disclosure. Compared to pre-test, PPC scores increased at 1-month (p?=?0.07) and anxiety scores decreased at 6-months (p?=?0.03) for the Cx positive group. In contrast, PPC scores decreased (p?=?0.009, p?HubMed – depression

Circadian Rhythm Characteristics in Mood Disorders: Comparison among Bipolar I Disorder, Bipolar II Disorder and Recurrent Major Depressive Disorder.

Clin Psychopharmacol Neurosci. 2012 Aug; 10(2): 110-6
Chung JK, Lee KY, Kim SH, Kim EJ, Jeong SH, Jung HY, Choi JE, Ahn YM, Kim YS, Joo EJ

Morningness/eveningness (M/E) is a stable characteristic of individuals. Circadian rhythms are altered in episodes of mood disorder. Mood disorder patients were more evening-type than normal population. In this study, we compared the characteristics of M/E among the 257 patients with bipolar I disorder (BPD1), bipolar II disorder (BPD2) and major depressive disorder, recurrent (MDDR).M/E was evaluated using the Korean version of the composite scale of morningness (CS). Factor analysis was done to extract specific elements of circadian rhythm (morning preference, morning alertness, and evening tiredness). The total score and scores for factors and individual items of CS were compared in order to evaluate differences among the three different diagnostic groups. Factor scores of CS were different among the diagnostic groups.BPD1 subjects had a higher score for evening tiredness than BPD2 subjects (p=0.060), and BPD1 subjects had a significantly higher score for morning alertness than subjects with MDDR (p=0.034). This difference was even more profound for the representative item scores of each factor; item 2 of CS for evening tiredness (BPD1>BPD2, p=0.007) and item 5 of CS for morning alertness (BPD1>MDDR, p=0.002). Total score of CS were not different among 3 diagnostic groups.Circadian rhythm characteristics measured by CS were different among BPD1, BPD2, and MDDR. BPD2 showed more eveningness than BPD1. MDDR showed less morningness than BPD1. CS would be a reasonable endophenotype associated with mood disorders. More studies with large sample size of mood disorders on M/E are warranted. HubMed – depression