It is therefore remarkable that the depression scales routinely used to assess changes during antidepressant treatment (Hamilton Depression Rating Scale [HDRS], Montgomery-Åsberg Depression Rating Scale [MADRS]) do not really take into account anhedonia.
Using clinical trial simulation (CTS), we analyzed the combined impact on the power of trials of controllable design factors (sample size, outcome metrics, and disease severity at inclusion) and uncontrollable parameters (heterogeneity of diseases labeled "depression" in the source population and selective effects of drugs on items of the Hamilton Depression Rating Scale [HDRS], the most used outcome measurement tool).
Data included baseline assessments of 2,351 subjects aged 60 years and older, whose blood pressure and depression severity were measured using a calibrated manual sphygmomanometer and the 17-item Hamilton Depression Rating Scale (HDRS-17), respectively.
Plasma (2R,6R)-HNK was associated with change (higher levels correlated with less clinical improvement) from baseline to 24 h post-infusion of depression (HDRS-24: Spearman r = 0.37, p = 0.009) and suicidal thoughts (SSI: Spearman r = 0.29, p = 0.041).
Twenty-four patients (16 with unipolar depression and eight with bipolar depression) who presented acute tDCS response (≥50% depression improvement in the Hamilton Depression Rating Scale [HDRS]) after receiving 15 tDCS sessions were followed for up to 6 months or until relapse, defined as clinical worsening and/or HDRS > 15.
They included baseline assessments of 2362 subjects ages ≥60 years, whose blood pressure and depression were measured using a calibrated manual sphygmomanometer and the Chinese version of the 17-item Hamilton Depression Rating Scale (HDRS-17), respectively.
Improvement in factor scores associated with subjective symptoms of depression - HDRS Psychic Depression, BDI Subjective Depression, and BDI Self-Blame - were the best predictors of declining scores on the SSI regardless of type of drug treatment.
Although health locus of control and depression are not statistically significant predictors of early hospital treatment, the recommendation is that further studies focus on the implementation of MHLC and HDRS scales within the community.
The severity of depression was evaluated using self-rated (Beck Depression Inventory: BDI) and observer-rated (Hamilton Depression Rating Scale: HDRS) measures.
Questionnaires are: the HDRS-17 (the Hamilton Rating Scale for Depression), the HARS (Hamilton Rating Scale for Anxiety), the Y-BOCS (Yale-Brown Obsessive Compulsive Scale), the YMRS (Young Mania Rating Scale).