Poster Highlights From the 2006 APA Meeting in Toronto

Why the First 2 Weeks of Treatment With Antidepressants Really Matter

Dr. Armin Szegedi and colleagues analyzed responses and improvement of individual patients treated with various antidepressants. They also examined the value of early improvement as a predictor of treatment outcome. Dr. Szegedi and colleagues found that patients not responding after 2 weeks of treatment have only a 10% chance of stable response or remittance within 6 weeks with unaltered treatment. NR289

Sexual Dysfunction in Patients With MDD

Dr. Jay Amsterdam and colleagues examined sexual dysfunction in patients with depression being treated with either selegiline transdermal (STS) or placebo. In each of the 4 double-blind, placebo-controlled studies, patients demonstrated improvement in sexual function, regardless of whether receiving STS or placebo. The data show that short-term therapy with STS is not associated with sexual dysfunction. NR458

Patients With Schizophrenia Prefer Long-Acting Injections

Dr. Johannes Hovens and colleagues interviewed 92 patients receiving antipsychotic medication via conventional oral, atypical oral, conventional long-acting injection, or atypical long-acting injection. They found that, unlike most psychiatrists, most patients did not have negative attitudes toward long-acting injection. Further, the various patient groups all judged injections to have more advantages and fewer disadvantages than other methods of medication administration. NR 367/368

Non-Medical Influences on Psychiatric Hospitalization

Drs. Kathleen Sheehan and Tom Burns examined which non-medical factors could affect clinical decision making. They found that clinicians frequently consult the opinions of others before admitting patients, that they sometimes feel pressure from patients and patients’ families to admit their patients, and, strikingly, that clinicians tend to overestimate their patients’ desire to be admitted. NR 126

Recent Life Events Preceding Suicide Attempts: Role of Personality Disorders

Dr. Hilario Blasco-Fontecilla III and colleagues explored whether recent life events (RLEs) might precipitate suicide attempts in patients with personality disorders. They found that suicide attempters had significantly more RLEs than controls. There was a significant correlation between personality disorders and suicide attempts preceded by “separation from spouse” and/or “important change in social activities.” NR 11

Prevalence and Predictions of Disordered Eating in Bipolar Disorder

Dr. Noreen Reilly-Harrington and colleagues assessed the prevalence of disordered eating in patients with bipolar disorder. Of 457 patients with bipolar disorder examined, 4.2% of males and 16.3% of females met criteria for lifetime eating disorders, much higher than the estimated prevalence in the general populace. Comorbid agoraphobia and social phobia were found to be significantly linked with lifetime eating disorders in bipolar patients. NR 274

Escitalopram in Relapse Prevention in Patients With Obsessive Compulsive Disorder

Dr. Naomi Fineberg and colleagues conducted a multinational, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, relapse-prevention study of escitalopram in 320 outpatients with OCD. Significantly fewer patients receiving escitalopram relapsed than patients receiving placebo, and escitalopram was well-tolerated, with an overall withdrawal rate of 7.9% as opposed to 8.9% for placebo. NR 504