Affective disorders in multiple sclerosis. Review and recommendations for clinical research.

This review of research on affective disorders in multiple sclerosis was prepared by members of the Cognitive Function Study Group of the National Multiple Sclerosis Society (New York, NY) to call attention to the prevalence and seriousness of emotional disturbances in multiple sclerosis, and to encourage further investigation of these syndromes. We present English-language studies of euphoria, pathological laughing and weeping, depression, and bipolar disorder, describe methodological limitations, and suggest areas for future clinical research.

Hypomanic reactions to ACTH and prednisone treatment for multiple sclerosis.

Nine of 50 MS patients became hypomanic or manic during treatment with ACTH or prednisone. Symptoms did not occur with every drug exposure and were more common with ACTH. Patients at risk were identified by episodes of major depression before and after the onset of MS and by family histories of depression or alcoholism.

Depression in multiple sclerosis.

Standardized interview techniques, diagnostic criteria, and rating scales were used to assess 50 moderately disabled multiple sclerosis (MS) patients. Fifty-four percent met lifetime Research Diagnostic Criteria for major depression, with a significant increase in the rate from before to after the onset of MS symptoms. The MS patients were significantly more depressed than other medical patients described in the literature. Major depressions were associated with steroid-treated exacerbations and a history of major depression. Symptoms of depression may be easily confused with those of MS, resulting in inadequate diagnosis and treatment.

Improving the quality of mental health care in multiple sclerosis.

OBJECTIVE: An exploratory study of mental health treatment of people with multiple sclerosis (MS) to identify hypotheses for future testing. METHODS: We mailed surveys to 8750 MS patients in four geographically distributed MS Centers; 3384 completed the survey. We used a modified version of the Experience of Care and Health Outcome Survey™ to assess mental health problems and experiences with mental health treatment and the Kessler 6 scale to identify serious mental illness. RESULTS: In the year before the survey, sixty percent of patients reported mental health problems. Less than one half of these individuals received mental health treatment, either from their MS care provider or a mental health professional in the MS Center or the community. Patients generally had good mental health treatment experiences, and felt helped by their treatment, but gave less positive reports about how long it took to be seen, receiving information about treatment options and managing their condition, and phone contact. Care experiences were more positive among those who received care from mental health professionals (compared to medical care providers) and among those receiving mental health treatment in the MS Center (compared to in the community). CONCLUSIONS: The unmet need for mental health treatment for people with MS is high. Options for MS care providers to help meet this need include hiring mental health professionals to provide on-site treatment; providing mental health treatment themselves; and referring patients to mental health professionals in the community and collaborating in integrated care. This study provided preliminary data for two related hypotheses that warrant further testing: MS patients will receive better mental health care if their mental health treatment is co-located with their MS care and if it is provided by mental health professionals.

Patients' perspectives on quality of mental health care for people with MS.

OBJECTIVE: The objective was to obtain multiple sclerosis (MS) patients' report on their experience receiving mental health care. METHODS: We convened focus groups at four MS clinical care centers to identify the aspects of mental health care that were important to people with MS. All patients (n=54) had received mental health care in the past year. Data were analyzed by coding comments under specific themes. RESULTS: Patients wanted prompt intervention after diagnosis and ongoing screening for mental health problems; they prefer providers with knowledge about MS and experience working with people with MS; they appreciated being able to access mental health services that were on-site at their MS center and noted the benefit of inclusion of family members in treatment. CONCLUSIONS: Mental health care should be provided promptly after diagnosis, with regular screening and interventions that include family members as indicated thereafter. Mental health providers should be familiar with MS, collaborate with neurologic care providers and provide services on-site at MS centers.

ApoE alleles, depression and positive affect in multiple sclerosis.

BACKGROUND: The role of apolipoprotein E (ApoE) alleles has received recent attention in depressive disorders, the ApoE epsilon4 conferring greater risk for poorer outcomes, and the ApoE epsilon2 allele providing some protective effects. Depression is common in multiple sclerosis (MS) and the role of ApoE alleles is unknown. AIMS: To evaluate ApoE alleles in relation to symptoms of depression in a cohort of patients with MS participating in the Sonya Slifka Longitudinal Multiple Sclerosis Study (Slifka Study). To examine risk and protection, depressed mood and positive affect were each investigated with respect to the ApoE epsilon4 and ApoE epsilon2 alleles, respectively. RESULTS: Of the total 101 participants, 22.8% were ApoE epsilon2 carriers and 21.8% were ApoE epsilon4 carriers. Hierarchical linear regression analyses suggested that after controlling for demographics, disease duration, and disability, ApoE epsilon2 significantly predicted increased positive affect (R2Delta=0.05, F(1,94)=5.44, P=0.02) and was associated with decreased severity of depressive symptoms, although this did not reach statistical significance (R2Delta=0.03, F(1,94)=3.44, P=0.06). ApoE epsilon4 did not significantly predict depression status. CONCLUSION: The presence of the ApoE epsilon2 allele in this study is suggested to be protective against depressive symptoms in our subsample of patients recruited from the Slifka Study. These findings are consistent with reports in psychiatric populations linking ApoE epsilon2 with decreased incidence of depressive disorders. Further investigation would be warranted to understand the role of ApoE genotypes and risk for depressive symptoms.

Access to and utilization of neurologists by people with multiple sclerosis.

OBJECTIVE: This study examined access to and use of neurologists among a broad, national sample of people with multiple sclerosis (MS); identified demographic, economic, and clinical factors associated with access and use; and examined differences in treatment and management of MS. METHODS: We used computer-assisted telephone interviews to collect data from 2,156 people with MS on demographics, disease characteristics, and use of neurologists, other specialists, and disease-modifying agents (DMAs). We used chi(2) tests and logistic regressions to compare patients of neurologists and other providers and identify predictor variables and treatment factors associated with seeing neurologists. RESULTS: For their usual MS care, 72.2% of participants saw a neurologist. The probability of seeing a neurologist was significantly lower for people who lacked health insurance, were poor, lived in rural areas, or were African American; had been ill for more than 15 years; had difficulty walking but did not use an assistive device; or required a wheelchair/scooter or were confined to bed. People who reported one to two relapses in the preceding year and women were significantly more likely to see neurologists. Patients of neurologists were significantly more likely to take a DMA, attend an outpatient rehabilitation program, or see an occupational therapist, urologist, or physical therapist. CONCLUSIONS: People with multiple sclerosis who see neurologists are more likely than people who see other providers to receive treatment with disease-modifying agents and see rehabilitation specialists and urologists. While some people may choose other providers, economic, insurance, racial, and geographic factors appear to limit access to neurologists.

Access to health care for people with multiple sclerosis.

The Sonya Slifka Longitudinal Multiple Sclerosis (MS) Study follows a population-based cohort of approximately 2000 people with MS to study demographic and clinical characteristics, use and cost of health services, provider and treatment characteristics, neurological, economic, and psychosocial outcomes. We examined key indicators of access to health care and found that the majority of participants had health insurance, a usual source of care, and access to specialty care. Nevertheless, 3.8% did not have health insurance which, with application of sampling weights, corresponds to approximately 7000 people with MS in the US population. Even with insurance, population-based estimates indicated that substantial numbers of people with MS have plans that pay nothing toward prescription medication, limit their access to specialists, and restrict their choice of hospitals and providers. Some 9% of the sample, corresponding to 15,800 people with MS, did not have a usual source of MS care; 11.8% or 17,300 people did not have a usual source of general health care; and 31% or 57,400 people did not see the specialists that they or their physicians wanted them to see. Further, 10.5% or 19,400 people reported difficulty obtaining prescription medication, 4.1% or 7600 people encountered obstacles accessing medical care, and 2.4% or 4500 people could not obtain the mental health services they needed. Finally, out-of-pocket health care expenditures were twice those found for the general population. Two-thirds of study participants (representing almost 70,000 people) chose their MS care providers because they were neurologists or MS specialists, creating a demand that almost certainly exceeds current supply.

The Sonya Slifka Longitudinal Multiple Sclerosis Study: methods and sample characteristics.

The Sonya Slifka Longitudinal Multiple Sclerosis Study follows a population-based cohort of approximately 2000 people with multiple sclerosis (MS) to study demographic and clinical characteristics, course of illness, utilization and cost of health services, provider characteristics, use of MS specialists and disease modifying agents, and neurologic, economic and psychosocial outcomes. This report describes the study methodology, presents baseline demographic and clinical data, and evaluates the representativeness of the sample. A stratified random sample of persons with established and recently-diagnosed MS selected from the National Multiple Sclerosis Society (NMSS) mailing lists was supplemented with recently-diagnosed patients recruited through systematic nationwide outreach. Baseline data were collected by computer-assisted telephone interviews derived from standardized instruments; data collection continues at six-month intervals. The cohort was comparable to population-based and clinical samples with respect to demographics, course, relapse rate, symptoms, and severity of disability. Almost two-thirds of the cohort needed help with activities of daily living, three-quarters were limited in work or other activities, and half had emotional problems that compromised quality of life. The Slifka Study cohort is broadly representative of the MS population and the database can be used to address questions not answered by natural history studies, clinical databases, or population-based surveys.

Mood disorders in multiple sclerosis: diagnosis and treatment.

Emotional disturbances are common in MS and consist of disturbances of mood and disturbances of affect. The important mood disorders are major depressive disorder, dysthymic disorder, bipolar disorder, panic disorder, and generalized anxiety disorder. Their relationship to MS is multi-factorial and complex, and the extent to which they are direct consequences of the disease process or psychological reactions to it remains unclear. Whatever their cause, however, the symptoms of mood disorders in people with MS are no different from the symptoms of mood disorders in people without MS, and respond just as well to standard treatments. The disorders of affect are euphoria, pathological laughing and weeping, and other frontal lobe syndromes. These disorders result from demyelination, are some of the most characteristic symptoms of MS, and have the same implications for treatment as do other aspects of the disease. Mood and affective disturbances can cause enormous pain and suffering and lead to significant disruption of family, work, and social life. Physicians who can identify, diagnose, treat, and manage mood and affective disturbances effectively and who can help their patients and family members acknowledge these difficulties, talk about them, and accept psychiatric consultation and treatment can have a dramatic impact on the quality of their lives. This paper outlines the symptoms and diagnostic criteria for mood disorders and affective disturbances, reviews current treatment options, summarizes data from epidemiologic and pathophysiological studies, and suggests areas for future research.

Lithium intoxication: a coordinated treatment approach.

This case illustrates the clinical features of lithium intoxication and the problems in treating it that may arise as a result of lithium's effects on the kidney. It also demonstrates the difficulties that can develop when a delicate physiologic balance is inadvertently disrupted by nonpharmacologic interventions such as seclusion and consequent restriction of access to food and water. Patients with lithium-induced urine-concentrating defects are especially at risk for dehydration, and care must be taken to ensure adequate fluid and salt intake. This case also shows how intense negative feelings evoked by chronically mentally ill patients can adversely affect their psychiatric and medical care. While such feelings are inevitable, their impact may be lessened by improved communication and coordination between the medical and psychiatric systems of care and by the presence of psychiatrists in the general medical hospital.

Memory impairment in multiple sclerosis.

We compared the performance of 50 multiple sclerosis (MS) patients and 35 normal controls on a variety of memory tasks to determine the nature and severity of memory deficits in the MS patients and the proportion of patients affected. We also determined the relationship between memory and other cognitive functions, demographic factors, disease characteristics, depression, and psychoactive medication. We found significant differences between patients and controls on almost all memory tests. Patterns of learning, effects of interference, and improvement with cuing were similar for both groups. Thirty percent of patients showed severe memory impairment, 30% were moderately impaired, and 40% were mildly or not impaired. Memory dysfunction was related to impairment of other cognitive functions, lower socioeconomic status, chronic progressive type of MS, and use of antianxiety medication, but not to severity of disability, duration of MS symptoms or depression.

Psychiatric symptoms and medical utilization in primary care patients.

In two studies, the authors evaluated the impact of psychiatric disorders on medical care utilization in a primary care setting. In the first study, 526 consecutive patients in a teaching hospital primary care practice completed the 18-item RAND Mental Health Inventory to identify clinically significant depression and/or anxiety and a questionnaire about the use of psychiatric treatment and psychoactive medications. The medical utilization of those patients defined as depressed and/ or anxious was compared with those defined as not depressed and/or anxious. Patients identified as depressed and/or anxious reported significantly increased medical utilization, but this was not confirmed by the hospital's computerized record system. In the second study, the authors analyzed medical care utilization for the years before and after the first outpatient psychiatry appointment of a sample of 91 patients referred from the same primary care practice to the hospital's outpatient psychiatry clinic over a 1-year period. In both studies there was not a statistically significant difference in medical utilization among those patients receiving psychiatric treatment. The findings demonstrate the difficulties in examining cost offset in a primary care population and raise questions about it as a realistic outcome measure of the effect of psychiatric treatment.