[Persistent subjective cognitive decline in middle age: diagnosis and treatment]. / Persisterende subjectieve geheugen-klachten op middelbare leeftijd: diagnostiek en behandeling.

A 47-year-old highly educated man without psychiatric history was referred for psychiatric evaluation because of persistent subjective cognitive decline after repeated and extensive diagnostic evaluation in an outpatient memory clinic. The patient developed increasing preoccupation and anxiety with memory complaints and concerns, despite repetitive negative findings from clinical investigations. This clinical case is coined as ‘neurocognitive hypochondria’, a syndrome interfacing with cogniform and illness anxiety disorders, in which obsessions and concerns about progression of unexplained memory deficits are indicated for specialized treatment. This case study provides more insight into differential diagnosis, classification according to the current DSM-5 criteria and discussion on potential treatment approaches.

[The effects of shared decision making in depression: systematic review and meta-analysis]. / Het effect van samen beslissen bij depressie: systematische review en meta-analyse.

BACKGROUND: Shared decision making (SDM) is advised in the treatment guideline for depressive disorders. However, it’s unclear if SDM contributes to the optimization of care. AIM: To provide an overview of the effects of SDM within the treatment of depression on treatment outcome, patient satisfaction and adherence through a meta-analysis and systematic review. METHOD: In a literature search (PubMed, PsycINFO, Embase), randomised controlled studies with patients who suffer from depression or depressive symptoms were selected. The effect of a SDM intervention previous to treatment was compared to no SDM intervention on the outcome measures. Effect sizes were computed with random effects models and risk of bias was assessed. RESULTS: Five studies were included (N = 850). SDM did not result in superior treatment outcome (Cohen’s d = 0.02;
95%-BI:-0.12-0,16; p = 0.773) and adherence (Cohen’s d = 0.29; 95%-BI:-0.01-0.58; p = 0.056). SDM did lead to higher patient satisfaction with a medium-large effect size (Cohen’s d = 0.53; 95%-BI:0,17-0.90; p = .004). CONCLUSION: SDM resulted in higher patient satisfaction, no effects were found regarding treatment outcome and adherence. However, operationalisation of SDM in the studies were variable. SDM appears to be a versatile construct in clinical practice.

Do better nights lead to better days? Guided internet-based cognitive behavioral therapy for insomnia in people suffering from a range of mental health problems: Protocol of a pragmatic randomized clinical trial.

BACKGROUND: Insomnia is the transdiagnostically shared most common complaint in disorders of anxiety, stress and emotion regulation. Current cognitive behavioral therapies (CBT) for these disorders do not address sleep, while good sleep is essential for regulating emotions and learning new cognitions and behaviours: the core fundaments of CBT. This transdiagnostic randomized control trial (RCT) evaluates whether guided internet-delivered cognitive behavioral therapy for insomnia (iCBT-I) (1) improves sleep, (2) affects the progression of emotional distress and (3) enhances the effectiveness of regular treatment of people with clinically relevant symptoms of emotional disorders across all mental health care (MHC) echelons. METHODS: We aim for 576 completers with clinically relevant symptoms of insomnia as well as at least one of the dimensions of generalized anxiety disorder (GAD), social anxiety disorder (SAD), panic disorder (PD), posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) or borderline personality disorder (BPD). Participants are either pre-clinical, unattended, or referred to general- or specialized MHC. Using covariate-adaptive randomization, participants will be assigned to a 5 to 8-week iCBT-I (i-Sleep) or a control condition (sleep diary only) and assessed at baseline, and after two and eight months. The primary outcome is insomnia severity. Secondary outcomes address sleep, severity of mental health symptoms, daytime functioning, mental health protective lifestyles, well-being, and process evaluation measures. Analyses use linear mixed-effect regression models. DISCUSSION: This study can reveal for whom, and at which stage of disease progression, better nights could mean substantially better days. TRIAL REGISTRATION: International Clinical Trial Registry Platform (NL9776). Registered on 2021-10-07.

Six-year healthcare trajectories of adults with anxiety and depressive disorders: Determinants of transition to specialised mental healthcare.

BACKGROUND: To investigate potential facilitators and barriers for patients receiving specialised mental healthcare using a longitudinal design. METHODS: Longitudinal data on 701 adult participants with a depressive and/or anxiety disorder were derived from the Netherlands Study of Depression and Anxiety (NESDA). Demographic, clinical and treatment determinants at baseline were assessed with self-report questionnaires and the Composite International Diagnostic Interview (CIDI 2.1). Transition to specialised mental healthcare was assessed at one, two, four, and six-year follow-up with a self-report resource use questionnaire (TiC-P). RESULTS: 28.3% of patients with a depressive and/or anxiety disorder transitioned from receiving no care or primary mental healthcare to specialised mental health services during six-year follow-up. The multivariate Cox regression model identified suicidal ideation, younger age, higher education level, openness to experience, pharmacological treatment, prior treatment in primary mental healthcare and perceived unmet need for help as determinants of transition, explaining 8-18% of variance. LIMITATIONS: This study focused on baseline determinants of future transition to specialised mental healthcare. Recovery and remittance of depression and anxiety in relation to transition were not studied. CONCLUSIONS: Not all key clinical guideline characteristics such as severity of symptoms and comorbidity were predictive of a transition to specialised mental healthcare, while non-clinical factors, such as age and perceived unmet need for help, did influence the process.

[Associations between depression, anxiety and telomere length in a large Dutch psychiatric cohort study]. / Psychische stress en cellulaire veroudering: de samenhang tussen depressie, angst en telomeerlengte.

BACKGROUND: Not only do depressive and anxiety disorders have psychological consequenses, they can also lead to impaired physical health. Persons with depressieve and anxiety disorders have increased risk of developing several ageing-related somatic ilnesses. This raises the question whether persons with depressive or anxiety disorder are subject to accelerated cellular ageing.
AIM: To test the cross-sectional and longitudinal associations between depressive and anxiety disorders and telomere length, an indicator of cellular ageing.
METHOD: We measured telomere length in participants of the Netherlands Study of Depression and Anxiety with and without psychopathology at baseline (N=2936) and we also studied a large number of these participants (N=1883) at 6-year follow-up.
RESULTS: Telomere length of participants with a lifetime depressive or anxiety disorder was, on average, shorter than the telomere length in the control group. This association was attributed to dysregulations in physiological stress systems and an unhealthy lifestyle. Over time, however, telomere length was shown to have a stable, non-dynamic association with depressive and anxiety disorders.
CONCLUSION: Our results suggest that psychological stress, as experienced by persons with depressive or anxiety disorders, might indeed be associated with increased 'wear and tear' of the human body. The challenge for future research is to determine whether short telomere length is in fact a long-term consequence or an underlying vulnerability factor for depressive or anxiety disorders.

The long-term association of OCD and depression and its moderators: A four-year follow up study in a large clinical sample.

BACKGROUND: Depression is the most common comorbidity in obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). However, the mechanisms of depressive comorbidity in OCD are poorly understood. We assessed the directionality and moderators of the OCD-depression association over time in a large, prospective clinical sample of OCD patients. METHODS: Data were drawn from 382 OCD patients participating at the Netherlands Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder Association (NOCDA) study. Cross-lagged, structural equation modeling analyses were used to assess the temporal association between OCD and depressive symptoms. Assessments were conducted at baseline, two-year and four-year follow up. Cognitive and interpersonal moderators of the prospective association between OCD and depressive symptoms were tested. RESULTS: Cross-lagged analyses demonstrated that OCD predicts depressive symptoms at two-year follow up and not vice a versa. This relationship disappeared at four-year follow up. Secure attachment style moderated the prospective association between OCD and depression. CONCLUSIONS: Depressive comorbidity in OCD might constitute a functional consequence of the incapacitating OCD symptoms. Both OCD and depression symptoms demonstrated strong stability effects between two-year and four-year follow up, which may explain the lack of association between them in that period. Among OCD patients, secure attachment represents a buffer against future depressive symptoms.

A randomized clinical trial on the effectiveness of an intervention to treat psychological distress and improve quality of life after autologous stem cell transplantation.

Psychological distress contributes to impaired quality of life in hematological cancer patients. Stepped care treatment, in which patients start with the least intensive treatment most likely to work and only receive more intensive interventions if needed, could improve distress. We aimed to evaluate the outcome of stepped care treatment on psychological distress and physical functioning in patients treated with autologous stem cell transplantation for hematological malignancies. In the present study, we performed a randomized clinical trial with two treatment arms: stepped care and care as usual. Baseline assessment and randomization occurred during pre-transplant hospitalization. Stepped care was initiated after 6 weeks, consisting of (1) watchful waiting, (2) Internet-based self-help intervention, and (3) face-to-face counseling/ psychopharmacological treatment/ referral. Follow-up measurements were conducted at 13, 30, and 42 weeks after transplantation. Stepped care (n = 47) and care as usual (n = 48) were comparable on baseline characteristics. The uptake of the intervention was low: 24 patients started with step 1, 23 with step 2, and none with step 3. Percentages of distressed patients ranged from 4.1 to 9.7 %. Ten percent of patients received external psychological or psychiatric care. No statistically significant differences were found between stepped care and care as usual on psychological distress or physical functioning in intention to treat analyses, nor in per protocol analyses. The stepped care program was not effective in decreasing psychological distress. The low intervention uptake, probably related to the low levels of psychological distress, offers an explanation for this outcome. Future research should take into account patients' specific care needs. Netherlands Trial Registry identifier: NTR1770.

Emotion regulation before and after transcranial magnetic stimulation in obsessive compulsive disorder.

BACKGROUND: Impaired emotion regulation may underlie exaggerated emotional reactivity in patients with obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD), yet instructed emotion regulation has never been studied in the disorder. METHOD: This study aimed to assess the neural correlates of emotion processing and regulation in 43 medication-free OCD patients and 38 matched healthy controls, and additionally test if these can be modulated by stimulatory (patients) and inhibitory (controls) repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) over the left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (dlPFC). Participants performed an emotion regulation task during functional magnetic resonance imaging before and after a single session of randomly assigned real or sham rTMS. Effect of group and rTMS were assessed on self-reported distress ratings and brain activity in frontal-limbic regions of interest. RESULTS: Patients had higher distress ratings than controls during emotion provocation, but similar rates of distress reduction after voluntary emotion regulation. OCD patients compared with controls showed altered amygdala responsiveness during symptom provocation and diminished left dlPFC activity and frontal-amygdala connectivity during emotion regulation. Real v. sham dlPFC stimulation differentially modulated frontal-amygdala connectivity during emotion regulation in OCD patients. CONCLUSIONS: We propose that the increased emotional reactivity in OCD may be due to a deficit in emotion regulation caused by a failure of cognitive control exerted by the dorsal frontal cortex. Modulatory rTMS over the left dlPFC may influence automatic emotion regulation capabilities by influencing frontal-limbic connectivity.

Age of onset in obsessive-compulsive disorder: admixture analysis with a large sample.

BACKGROUND: Research into age of onset in obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) has indicated significant differences between patients with early and late onset of the disorder. However, multiple criteria have been used arbitrarily for differentiating between early- and late-onset OCD, rendering inconsistent results that are difficult to interpret. METHOD: In the current study, admixture analysis was conducted in a sample of 377 OC patients to determine the number of underlying populations of age of onset and associated demographic and clinical characteristics. Various measures of anxiety, depression, co-morbidity, autism, OCD, tics and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) symptoms were administered. RESULTS: A bimodal age of onset was established and the best-fitting cut-off score between early and late age of onset was 20 years (early age of onset ≤19 years). Patients with early age of onset were more likely to be single. Early age of onset patients demonstrated higher levels of OCD severity and increased symptoms on all OCD dimensions along with increased ADHD symptoms and higher rates of bipolar disorder. CONCLUSIONS: It is suggested that 20 years is the recommended cut-off age for the determination of early versus late age of onset in OCD. Early age of onset is associated with a generally graver OCD clinical picture and increased ADHD symptoms and bipolar disorder rates, which may be related to greater functional implications of the disorder. We propose that age of onset could be an important marker for the subtyping of OCD.

Predictors of health-related quality of life in patients treated with auto- and allo-SCT for hematological malignancies.

Identifying factors that predict health-related quality of life (QOL) following hematopoietic SCT, is important in estimating patients' abilities to adjust to the consequences of their disease and treatment. As the studies that have been published on this subject are scattered, the present study aimed to systematically review prognostic factors for health-related QOL after auto- and allo-SCT in hematological malignancies. A systematic, computerized search in Medline, EMBASE, PsycINFO and the Cochrane Library was conducted from 2002 to June 2010. The methodological quality of the studies was assessed using an adaptation of Hayden's criteria list. Qualitative data synthesis was performed to determine the strength of the scientific evidence. In all, 35 studies fulfilled the selection criteria. Strong-moderate evidence was found for GVHD, conditioning regimen, being female, younger age, receiving less social support and pre-transplant psychological distress as predictors of various aspects of health-related QOL following hematopoietic SCT. The results of this review may help transplant teams in selecting patients at risk for experiencing a diminished health-related QOL following hematopoietic SCT. Follow-up treatment can be provided in order to promote QOL.

Positive and negative life events and personality traits in predicting course of depression and anxiety.

OBJECTIVE: To examine the prognostic value of personality dimensions and negative and positive life events for diagnostic and symptom course trajectories in depressive and anxiety disorder. METHOD: A total of 1209 subjects (18-65 years) with depressive and/or anxiety disorder were recruited in primary and specialized mental health care. Personality dimensions at baseline were assessed with the NEO-FFI and incidence and date of life events retrospectively with a structured interview at 2-year follow-up. DSM-IV-based diagnostic interviews as well as life chart assessments allowed course assessment at both the diagnostic and symptom trajectory level over 2 years. RESULTS: Life events were significantly related to diagnostic and symptom course trajectories of depression and anxiety also after correcting for sociodemographic and clinical characteristics. Only negative life events prospectively predicted longer time to remission of depressive disorder. Prospective associations of neuroticism and extraversion with prognosis of anxiety and depression were greatly reduced after correcting for baseline severity and duration of index disorder. Personality traits did not moderate the effect of life events on 2-year course indicators. CONCLUSIONS: Negative life events have an independent effect on diagnostic and symptom course trajectories of depression and to a lesser extent anxiety unconfounded by sociodemographic, clinical, and personality characteristics.

Childhood life events and childhood trauma in adult patients with depressive, anxiety and comorbid disorders vs. controls.

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the association between childhood life events, childhood trauma and the presence of anxiety, depressive or comorbid anxiety and depressive disorders in adulthood. METHOD: Data are from 1931 adult participants in the Netherlands Study of Depression and Anxiety (NESDA). Childhood life events included divorce of parents, early parental loss and 'placed in care', whereas childhood trauma was assessed as experienced emotional neglect, psychological, physical and sexual abuse prior to age 16. RESULTS: Childhood life events were not associated with psychopathology, except for 'placed in care' in the comorbid group. All types of childhood trauma were increasingly prevalent in the following order: controls, anxiety, depression, and comorbid group (P < 0.001). The higher the score was on the childhood trauma index, the stronger the association with psychopathology (P < 0.001). CONCLUSION: Childhood trauma rather than childhood life events are related to anxiety and depressive disorders. The strong associations with the comorbid group suggest that childhood trauma contributes to the severity of psychopathology. Our study underscores the importance of heightened awareness of the possible presence of childhood trauma, especially in adult patients with comorbid anxiety and depressive disorders.

[Treatment for chronic depression: cognitive behavioral analysis system of psychotherapy (CBASP)]. / Behandeling voor chronische depressie: 'cognitive behavioral analysis system of psychotherapy' (CBASP).

BACKGROUND: Chronic depression is a common disorder in secondary care. Treatment results for this group of depressed patients are often disappointing and the existing treatment protocols are insufficiently tailored to chronic MDD. For this reason, an effective psychotherapeutic treatment will constitute a welcome addition to the range of treatments currently available for chronically depressed patients. AIM: To describe 'cognitive behavioral analysis system of psychotherapy' (CBASP), the first form of psychotherapy specifically designed for the treatment of chronic depression. METHOD: This article describes the evidence, rational and the most important techniques of CBASP. RESULTS: In the United States CBASP has proven to be effective in one trial. As a result of these findings, CBASP is recommended in the Dutch treatment guidelines as an evidence-based treatment option for chronic depression. However, the findings have not yet been replicated and little is known about possible ways of implementing CBASP in the Netherlands. For this reason a randomised controlled trial on the effectiveness of CBASP has started in three psychiatric hospitals in the Netherlands. CONCLUSION: CBASP is recommended as a treatment option for chronic depression in the Dutch treatment guidelines, but evidence should be further supported by additional research.

[A new explanatory model for obsessive-compulsive disorder]. / Een nieuw verklaringsmodel voor de obsessieve-compulsieve stoornis.

BACKGROUND: Ever since the first descriptions of obsessive-compulsive disorder (ocd) there have been discussions about how the phenomenology of the disorder should be understood. Over the past 50 years the main emphasis has been on the phobic elements of ocd. A new psychological model, called the Inference Based Approach (iba), focuses on an underexposed aspect of the disorder, namely the strange convictions of the patient. AIM: To compare the new model with the existing cognitive behavioral theories of ocd. METHOD: Literature research was conducted using Medline. RESULTS: According to the iba it is assumed that patients with ocd feel anxious because their testing of reality is imperfect. Patients would not feel any anxiety if they were able to integrate adequately information obtained via their senses. In that case ocd would be a cognitive disorder, not an anxiety disorder. Although the model provides an attractive explanation for the symptoms of ocd and some of the research results seem to support the model, many questions still remain unanswered. CONCLUSION: There are indications that, at least in some ocd patients, anxiety might be only a part of the disorder rather than the core.

[Obsessive-compulsive disorder]. / Obsessieve-compulsieve stoornis.

Obsessive-compulsive disorder is a complex psychiatric disorder characterised by obsessions and/or compulsions. Obsessive-compulsive disorder has a relatively high prevalence and is a highly disabling disease. The disorder is associated with shame, which causes long delays in accessing treatment. Obsessive-compulsive disorder is caused by a complex interplay between genetic and environmental factors. Effective treatments exist in the form of either pharmacotherapy--clomipramine or selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors--or cognitive behaviour therapy.

Predictors of course in obsessive-compulsive disorder: logistic regression versus Cox regression for recurrent events.

OBJECTIVE: Two methods for predicting remissions in obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) treatment are evaluated. Y-BOCS measurements of 88 patients with a primary OCD (DSM-III-R) diagnosis were performed over a 16-week treatment period, and during three follow-ups. METHOD: Remission at any measurement was defined as a Y-BOCS score lower than thirteen combined with a reduction of seven points when compared with baseline. Logistic regression models were compared with a Cox regression for recurrent events model. RESULTS: Logistic regression yielded different models at different evaluation times. The recurrent events model remained stable when fewer measurements were used. Higher baseline levels of neuroticism and more severe OCD symptoms were associated with a lower chance of remission, early age of onset and more depressive symptoms with a higher chance. CONCLUSION: Choice of outcome time affects logistic regression prediction models. Recurrent events analysis uses all information on remissions and relapses. Short- and long-term predictors for OCD remission show overlap.

Frequent attenders in general practice: problem solving treatment provided by nurses [ISRCTN51021015].

BACKGROUND: There is a need for assistance from primary care mental health workers in general practice in the Netherlands. General practitioners (GPs) experience an overload of frequent attenders suffering from psychological problems. Problem Solving Treatment (PST) is a brief psychological treatment tailored for use in a primary care setting. PST is provided by nurses, and earlier research has shown that it is a treatment at least as effective as usual care. However, research outcomes are not totally satisfying. This protocol describes a randomized clinical trial on the effectiveness of PST provided by nurses for patients in general practice. The results of this study, which currently being carried out, will be presented as soon as they are available. METHODS/DESIGN: This study protocol describes the design of a randomized controlled trial to investigate the effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of PST and usual care compared to usual care only. Patients, 18 years and older, who present psychological problems and are frequent attenders in general practice are recruited by the research assistant. The participants receive questionnaires at baseline, after the intervention, and again after 3 months and 9 months. Primary outcome is the reduction of symptoms, and other outcomes measured are improvement in problem solving skills, psychological and physical well being, daily functioning, social support, coping styles, problem evaluation and health care utilization. DISCUSSION: Our results may either confirm that PST in primary care is an effective way of dealing with emotional disorders and a promising addition to the primary care in the UK and USA, or may question this assumption. This trial will allow an evaluation of the effects of PST in practical circumstances and in a rather heterogeneous group of primary care patients. This study delivers scientific support for this use and therefore indications for optimal treatment and referral.

Cognitive and behavioral therapies alone versus in combination with fluvoxamine in the treatment of obsessive compulsive disorder.

The purpose of this treatment package design study was to investigate the differential efficacy of cognitive therapy or exposure in vivo with response prevention for obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD) versus the sequential combination with fluvoxamine. Patients with OCD (N = 117) were randomized to one of the following five conditions: a) cognitive therapy for weeks 1 to 16, b) exposure in vivo with response prevention for weeks 1 to 16, c) fluvoxamine for weeks 1 to 16 plus cognitive therapy in weeks 9 to 16, d) fluvoxamine for weeks 1 to 16 plus exposure in vivo with response prevention in weeks 9 to 16, or e) waiting list control condition for weeks 1 to 8 only. Assessments took place before treatment (pretest) and after 8 (midtest), and 16 weeks (posttest). In the first 8 weeks, six treatment sessions were delivered. During weeks 9 to 16, another 10 sessions were given. Thirty-one patients dropped out. Outcome was assessed by patient-, therapist- and assessor-ratings of the Anxiety Discomfort Scale, the Yale-Brown Obsessive Compulsive Scale, and the Padua Inventory-Revised. In contrast with the four treatments, after 8 weeks the waiting list control condition did not result in a significant decrease of symptoms. After 16 weeks of treatment, all four treatment packages were effective on these OCD ratings, but they did not differ among each other in effectiveness. In OCD, the sequential combination of fluvoxamine with cognitive therapy or exposure in vivo with response prevention is not superior to either cognitive therapy or exposure in vivo alone.

Prediction of outcome and early vs. late improvement in OCD patients treated with cognitive behaviour therapy and pharmacotherapy.

In this study, follow-up results of cognitive-behaviour therapy and of a combination of cognitive-behaviour therapy with a serotonergic antidepressant were determined. The study also examined factors that can predict this treatment effect, both in the long term and in the short term. In addition, it investigated whether differential prediction is possible for cognitive-behaviour therapy vs. a combination of cognitive-behaviour therapy with a serotonergic antidepressant. A total of 99 patients were included in the study. Treatment lasted 16 weeks, and a naturalistic follow-up measurement was made 6 months later. Of the 70 patients who completed the treatment, follow-up information was available for 61 subjects. Significant time effects were found on all outcome measures at both post-treatment measurement and follow-up. No differences in efficacy were found between the treatment conditions. Effectiveness at post-treatment measurement appears to predict success at follow-up. However, 17 of the 45 non-responders at the post-treatment measurement had become responders by the follow-up. The severity of symptoms, motivation for treatment and the dimensional score on the PDQ-R for cluster A personality disorder appear to predict treatment outcome. No predictors were found that related specifically to cognitive-behaviour therapy or combined treatment. These results indicate that the effectiveness of cognitive-behaviour therapy or a combination of cognitive-behaviour therapy and fluvoxamine at the post-treatment measurement is maintained at follow-up. However, non-response at post-treatment does not always imply non-response at follow-up. Patients with more severe symptoms need a longer period of therapy to become responders. Although predictors for treatment success were found, no evidence was found to determine the choice of one of the treatment modalities.