Diurnal symptoms of sleepiness and dysfunction predict future suicidal ideation in a French cohort of outpatients (FACE-DR) with treatment resistant depression: A 1-year prospective study about sleep markers.

BACKGROUND: Patients suffering from treatment-resistant depression (TRD) are at risk of suicide. Sleep and circadian rhythm alterations are widely recognized as core symptoms of major depressive disorder and are associated with suicidal ideation. Thus, sleep and circadian rhythm alterations may be targeted to prevent suicide. METHODS: Patients were recruited from a prospective cohort of the French network of TRD expert centers. Mood, sleep and circadian rhythms were assessed at baseline; suicidal risk was assessed both at baseline and during a one-year follow-up with standardized subjective questionnaires. RESULTS: Excessive daytime sleepiness (adjusted odds ratio aOR = 1.7(1-3.3), p = 0.04) and daytime dysfunction (aOR = 1.81(1.16-2.81), p = 0.0085) increased the risk of suicidal thoughts over the one-year follow-up period in patients with TRD after adjustment on age, gender, depression, trauma, anxiety, impulsivity, current daily tobacco smoking and body mass index. Hypnotics intake is associated with a reduced risk of suicidal ideation at one-year follow-up after the same adjustments (OR = 0.73(0.56-0.95), p = 0.019). Other associations between sleep quality or circadian rhythms and suicidal ideations at either baseline or one year did not remain significant in multivariate analyses after the same adjustments. LIMITATIONS: Sleep assessments were based on self-reported questionnaires rather than objective measures. CONCLUSIONS: Daytime sleepiness and dysfunction are predictors of suicidal ideations, whereas hypnotics intake is associated with a reduced risk of suicidal ideations. Diurnal symptoms of sleep disturbances are therefore red flags to target for preventing suicide in depressed patients, and hypnotics seem efficient in preventing suicide for patients with TRD.

Recommendations of the treatment-resistant depression expert center network for promoting tobacco smoking cessation based on the results from the real-world FACE-TRD national cohort.

BACKGROUND: Tobacco smoking has been associated with suicide, impulsivity and depression in non-clinical populations with differences across sexes. OBJECTIVE: To determine the role of tobacco smoking in Treatment-Resistant Depression (TRD) according to sex in a precision-medicine approach. METHOD: The FACE-TRD cohort is a national cohort of TRD patients recruited in 13 resistant depression expert centers between 2014 and 2021 and followed-up at 6 months. A standardized one-day long comprehensive battery was carried out, including trained-clinician and patient-reported outcomes, and patients were reevaluated at 6 months on their smoking and psychiatric hospitalization outcomes. RESULTS: 355 TRD participants were included (222 women). The smoking rate was much higher in TRD women compared to the French general population (34% vs 24%) while it was comparable for men (approximately 29%). In multivariate analyses, compared to non-smoking women, female smokers had significantly increased number of lifetime psychiatric hospitalizations (standardized beta B = 0.232, p = 0.014) and electro-convulsive therapy (adjusted odds ratio (aOR) = 2.748, p = 0.005), increased suicidal ideations (aOR = 4.047, p = 0.031), history of suicide attempt (aOR = 1.994, p = 0.033), and increased impulsivity (B = 0.210, p = 0.006) and were more frequently treated by benzodiazepines (aOR = 1.848, p = 0.035) and third- or fourth-line TRD treatments (antipsychotics aOR = 2.270, p = 0.006, mood stabilizers aOR = 2.067 p = 0.044). Tobacco smoking at baseline was predictive of psychiatric hospitalization within 6 months in persistent smoking women (aOR = 2.636, p = 0.031). These results were not replicated in men, for whom tobacco smoking was only associated with increased clinician-rated and self-reported depressive symptoms (respectively B = 0.207, p = 0.022 and B = 0.184, p = 0.048). The smoking cessation rate at 6 months was higher in women than in men (12% vs. 7%). No patient was administered nicotine substitute or varenicline at the two timepoints. INTERPRETATION: Combining these results and those of the literature, we recommend that active tobacco cessation should be promoted in TRD to improve depression, suicide and impulsivity especially in women. Female smokers appear as a specific population with heavier mental health outcomes that should be specifically addressed.

Ecological Assessment of Clinicians' Antipsychotic Prescription Habits in Psychiatric Inpatients: A Novel Web- and Mobile Phone-Based Prototype for a Dynamic Clinical Decision Support System.

BACKGROUND: Electronic prescribing devices with clinical decision support systems (CDSSs) hold the potential to significantly improve pharmacological treatment management. OBJECTIVE: The aim of our study was to develop a novel Web- and mobile phone-based application to provide a dynamic CDSS by monitoring and analyzing practitioners' antipsychotic prescription habits and simultaneously linking these data to inpatients' symptom changes. METHODS: We recruited 353 psychiatric inpatients whose symptom levels and prescribed medications were inputted into the MEmind application. We standardized all medications in the MEmind database using the Anatomical Therapeutic Chemical (ATC) classification system and the defined daily dose (DDD). For each patient, MEmind calculated an average for the daily dose prescribed for antipsychotics (using the N05A ATC code), prescribed daily dose (PDD), and the PDD to DDD ratio. RESULTS: MEmind results found that antipsychotics were used by 61.5% (217/353) of inpatients, with the largest proportion being patients with schizophrenia spectrum disorders (33.4%, 118/353). Of the 217 patients, 137 (63.2%, 137/217) were administered pharmacological monotherapy and 80 (36.8%, 80/217) were administered polytherapy. Antipsychotics were used mostly in schizophrenia spectrum and related psychotic disorders, but they were also prescribed in other nonpsychotic diagnoses. Notably, we observed polypharmacy going against current antipsychotics guidelines. CONCLUSIONS: MEmind data indicated that antipsychotic polypharmacy and off-label use in inpatient units is commonly practiced. MEmind holds the potential to create a dynamic CDSS that provides real-time tracking of prescription practices and symptom change. Such feedback can help practitioners determine a maximally therapeutic drug treatment while avoiding unproductive overprescription and off-label use.