Depression Treatment: Multi-Channel Weighted Speech Classification System for Prediction of Major Depression in Adolescents.

Multi-Channel Weighted Speech Classification System for Prediction of Major Depression in Adolescents.

Filed under: Depression Treatment

IEEE Trans Biomed Eng. 2012 Nov 21;
Ooi KE, Lech M, Allen N

Early identification of adolescents at high imminent risk for clinical depression could significantly reduce the burden of the disease. This study demonstrated that acoustic speech analysis and classification can be used to determine early signs of Major Depression in adolescents, up to two years before they meet clinical diagnostic criteria for the full-blown disorder. Individual contributions of four different types of acoustic parameters (prosodic, glottal, TEO and spectral) to depression related changes of speech characteristics were examined. A new computational methodology for the early prediction of depression in adolescents was developed and tested. The novel aspect of this methodology is in the introduction of multi-channel classification with a weighted decision procedure. It was observed that single channel classification was effective in predicting depression with a desirable specificity to sensitivity ratio and accuracy higher than chance level only when using glottal or prosodic features. The best prediction performance was achieved with the new multi-channel method, which used four features (prosodic, glottal, TEO and spectral). In the case of the person based approach with two sets of weights, the new multi-channel method provided a high accuracy level of 73% and the sensitivity to specificity ratio of 79%/67% for predicting future depression.
HubMed – depression

Rediscovering trazodone for the treatment of major depressive disorder.

Filed under: Depression Treatment

CNS Drugs. 2012 Dec; 26(12): 1033-49
Fagiolini A, Comandini A, Dell’osso MC, Kasper S

Trazodone is a triazolopyridine derivative that belongs to the class of serotonin receptor antagonists and reuptake inhibitors (SARIs). The drug is approved and marketed in several countries worldwide for the treatment of major depressive disorder (MDD) in adult patients. In clinical studies, trazodone has demonstrated comparable antidepressant activity to other drug classes, including tricyclic antidepressants (TCAs), selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) and serotonin-noradrenaline (norepinephrine) reuptake inhibitors (SNRIs). Moreover, the SARI action of trazodone may overcome the tolerability issues that are often associated with second-generation antidepressants such as SSRIs (i.e. insomnia, anxiety and sexual dysfunction). Recent focus has been placed on the development of a new prolonged-release once-a-day formulation of trazodone (TzCOAD), which may provide improved tolerability over the conventional immediate-release formulation of trazodone. Clinical studies have led to the recent approval in the USA of TzCOAD (as Oleptro™; Angelini Labopharm LLC, Princeton, NJ, USA), which may see resurgence of interest in the drug for the management of patients with MDD. Although trazodone is approved for the treatment of depression, evidence supports the use of low-dose trazodone as an off-label hypnotic for the treatment of sleep disorders in patients with MDD. The most common adverse effects reported with trazodone are drowsiness (somnolence/sedation), headache, dizziness and dry mouth. Other events reported, albeit with low incidence, include orthostatic hypotension (particularly in elderly patients or those with heart disease), minimal anticholinergic activity, corrected QT interval prolongation and torsade de pointes, cardiac arrhythmias, and rare occurrences of priapism and suicidal ideation. Overall, trazodone is an effective and well tolerated antidepressant (SARI) with an important role in the current treatment of MDD both as monotherapy and as part of a combination strategy. Trazodone is effective in controlling a wide range of symptoms of depression, while avoiding the negative effects on sleep seen with SSRI antidepressants. The recently approved prolonged-release formulation should provide further optimization of this antidepressant and may be useful for enabling an appropriate therapeutic dose to be administered with improved patient compliance.
HubMed – depression

Contributors to Depressive Symptoms Among Korean Immigrants With Type 2 Diabetes.

Filed under: Depression Treatment

Nurs Res. 2012 Nov 27;
Choi SE, Reed PL

BACKGROUND:: Patients with diabetes have a higher prevalence of depression than the general population. Korean immigrants with type 2 diabetes are understudied. OBJECTIVES:: The aim of this study was to identify the prevalence and correlates of depressive symptoms in Korean immigrants. METHODS:: In this cross-sectional descriptive study, a community sample of 164 Korean immigrant adults with type 2 diabetes were assessed for depressive symptoms using the Center for Epidemiological Studies Depression scale. Predictors of depression were grouped into three categories: demographic (age, gender, education, English proficiency), clinical (duration of diabetes, comorbidities, insulin use), and psychosocial (general health, diabetes-related quality of life [QOL], family support). RESULTS:: Approximately 56% of participants had Center for Epidemiological Studies Depression Scale scores of ?16. Higher levels of depression were associated with greater impact of diabetes on QOL (b = 5.68, p = .001), worse overall health (b = -0.09, p = .012), and less family support (b = -4.02, p = .042). The relationship between depression and diabetes impact on QOL was stronger for men than women (b = 6.67, p = .020). DISCUSSION:: Depressive symptoms are common among Korean immigrants with type 2 diabetes. Assessing diabetes-related QOL, general health, and family support may be of value in better understanding depressive symptoms among this population. Among Korean immigrant men with type 2 diabetes, specific attention should be paid to diabetes-related QOL.
HubMed – depression

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