Purpose/Background
Emotional adverse effects due to antidepressant use may cause difficulties for the clinician in the treatment of depression. In this prospective study, the emotional adverse effects of antidepressants were evaluated in various aspects.
Methods/Procedures
Ninety eight patients diagnosed with major depressive disorder were included in the study. At 2nd, 4th, 8th, 12th, and 16th weeks, patients were assessed with Montgomery-Asberg Depression Rating Scale (MADRS), and the antidepressant dose was increased in patients with less than a 50% reduction at each visit compared with the initial MADRS score. The Oxford Questionnaire on the Emotional Side-effects of Antidepressants (OQESA) was used at the 8th-week and 16th-week visits.
Findings/Results
A significant difference is found in the OQESA score at the 8th-week visit compared with the 16th-week assessment (P < 0.001, t = 5.73). There were significant correlations between MADRS scores and OQESA scores both at the 8th (r = 0.346, P = 0.05) and the 16th (r = 0.490, P < 0.001) weeks. In regression analyses, at eighth-week assessment, MADRS score (B = 1.487, P = 0.002) and selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor use (B = 14.014, P = 0.023) had a significantly predicted OQESA score.
Implications/Conclusions
In this study, it is found that, as the rate of remitted patients is increased, OQESA scores get decreased, and furthermore, the OQESA score of the remitted group is statistically low when compared with that of the nonremitted group at the 8th- and 16th-week visits. Oxford Questionnaire on the Emotional Side-effects of Antidepressants and MADRS scores are significantly correlated in all assessments. These results suggest that the score obtained from OQESA may be related not only to the emotional adverse effects of antidepressants but also to the residual symptoms of depression.
BACKGROUND: Repeated cigarette use in individuals generally occurs due to the craving for smoking. Orexin-leptin hormones and temperament character traits are thought to be important factors affecting nicotine craving. OBJECTIVE: The aims of this study were to determine orexin-leptin blood levels, which appear in nicotine deprivation, in health professionals who were diagnosed as having tobacco use disorder in accordance with the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fifth Edition (DSM-V) and to assess the temperament-character traits of the same group and to provide biologic and psychotherapeutic data for the treatment of tobacco abuse.
METHODS:The study sample consisted of faculty of medicine students and resident physicians who were smokers (n = 40). The control group comprised medical students and resident physicians who were non-smokers (n = 40). The Sociodemographic and Clinical Information Form, DSM-IV SCID-I Clinical Version, and Temperament and Character Inventory (TCI) were applied to both groups. Substance Craving Scale (SCS) and Fagerstrom Test for Nicotine Dependence were applied only smoking group. Blood samples were taken for plasma orexin and serum leptin levels for both groups. RESULTS: The plasma orexin levels were lower in the smokers group (p < .001). No statistically significant relations were determined between the SCS and plasma orexin and serum leptin levels in the smoking group. No significant differences were determined between the leptin (U = 119.5, p = .33) and orexin (U = 99, p = .11) levels of the heavy and very heavy smokers. The total points of novelty seeking (NS), and NS3 and NS4 subscale points in the TCI of the smoking group (p = .003, p = .003, p = .002), and the self-directedness (SD) SD2 and SD5 (p = .02, p = .01) subscale points, and total cooperativeness points (TC), and C4 and C5 subscale points (p = .001, p = .002, p = .001) of the non-smoking group were found as high. CONCLUSIONS/IMPORTANCE: Differences were detected between the smokers and nonsmokers in TCI scale subgroups and in terms of orexin levels. These results will greatly assist in the fight against craving that appears as a result of smoking cessation. Orexin appears to be more specific for nicotine craving than leptin. It seems more likely that the quest for the treatment of craving will continue through orexin. Temperament and personality traits are important for determining psychotherapeutic and supportive approaches to the release of tobacco and tobacco products. A number of studies investigating monoaminergic mechanisms indirectly related to orexin and leptin are required to research temperament, which has a greater genetic burden.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.