scholarly journals Direct Participation in and Indirect Exposure to the Occupy Central Movement and Depressive Symptoms: A Longitudinal Study of Hong Kong Adults

2016 ◽  
Vol 184 (9) ◽  
pp. 636-643 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael Y. Ni ◽  
Tom K. Li ◽  
Herbert Pang ◽  
Brandford H. Y. Chan ◽  
Betty Y. Yuan ◽  
...  

Abstract Despite the extensive history of social movements around the world, the evolution of population mental health before, during, and after a social movement remains sparsely documented. We sought to assess over time the prevalence of depressive symptoms during and after the Occupy Central movement in Hong Kong and to examine the associations of direct and indirect exposures to Occupy Central with depressive symptoms. We longitudinally administered interviews to 909 adults who were randomly sampled from the population-representative FAMILY Cohort at 6 time points from March 2009 to March 2015: twice each before, during, and after the Occupy Central protests. The Patient Health Questionnaire-9 was used to assess depressive symptoms and probable major depression (defined as Patient Health Questionnaire-9 score ≥10). The absolute prevalence of probable major depression increased by 7% after Occupy Central, regardless of personal involvement in the protests. Higher levels of depressive symptoms were associated with online and social media exposure to protest-related news (incidence rate ratio (IRR) = 1.28, 95% confidence interval (CI): 1.06, 1.55) and more frequent Facebook use (IRR = 1.38, 95% CI: 1.12, 1.71). Higher levels of intrafamilial sociopolitical conflict was associated with more depressive symptoms (IRR = 1.05, 95% CI: 1.01, 1.09). The Occupy Central protests resulted in substantial and sustained psychological distress in the community.

2012 ◽  
Vol 53 (1) ◽  
pp. 95-102 ◽  
Author(s):  
Xiaonan Yu ◽  
Wilson W.S. Tam ◽  
Paul T.K. Wong ◽  
Tai Hing Lam ◽  
Sunita M. Stewart

2019 ◽  
Vol 19 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
María Urtasun ◽  
Federico Manuel Daray ◽  
Germán Leandro Teti ◽  
Fernando Coppolillo ◽  
Gabriela Herlax ◽  
...  

Abstract Background The Patient Health Questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9) is a brief tool to assess the presence and severity of depressive symptoms. This study aimed to validate and calibrate the PHQ-9 to determine appropriate cut-off points for different degrees of severity of depression in Argentina. Methods We conducted a cross-sectional study on an intentional sample of adult ambulatory care patients with different degrees of severity of depression. All patients who completed the PHQ-9 were further interviewed by a trained clinician with the Mini International Neuropsychiatric Interview (MINI) and the Beck Depression Inventory-II (BDI-II). Reliability and validity tests, including receiver operating curve analysis, were performed. Results One hundred sixty-nine patients were recruited with a mean age of 47.4 years (SD = 14.8), of whom 102 were females (60.4%). The local PHQ-9 had high internal consistency (Cronbach’s alpha = 0.87) and satisfactory convergent validity with the BDI-II scale [Pearson’s correlation = 0.88 (p < 0.01)]. For the diagnosis of Major Depressive Episode (MDE) according to the MINI, a PHQ-9 ≥ 8 was the optimal cut-off point found (sensitivity 88.2%, specificity 86.6%, PPV 90.91%). The local version of PHQ-9 showed good ability to discriminate among depression severity categories according to the BDI-II scale. The best cut off points were 6–8 for mild cases, 9–14 for moderate and 15 or more for severe depressive symptoms respectively. Conclusions The Argentine version of the PHQ-9 questionnaire has shown acceptable validity and reliability for both screening and severity assessment of depressive symptoms.


2019 ◽  
Vol 16 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Saman Maroufizadeh ◽  
Reza Omani-Samani ◽  
Amir Almasi-Hashiani ◽  
Payam Amini ◽  
Mahdi Sepidarkish

Abstract Background Depression in patients with infertility often goes undiagnosed and untreated. The Patient Health Questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9) and its ultra-brief version (i.e. PHQ-2) are widely used measures of depressive symptoms. These scales have not been validated in patients with infertility. The aim of the present study was to examine the reliability and validity of the PHQ-9 and PHQ-2 in patients with infertility. Methods In this cross-sectional study, a total of 539 patients with infertility from a referral infertility clinic in Tehran, Iran completed the PHQ-9, along with other relevant scales: the WHO-five Well-being Index (WHO-5), the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS), and the Generalized Anxiety Disorder-7 (GAD-7). Factor structure and internal consistency of PHQ-9 were examined via confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) and Cronbach’s alpha, respectively. Convergent validity was evaluated by relationship with WHO-5, HADS and GAD-7. Results The mean total PHQ-9 and PHQ-2 scores were 8.47 ± 6.17 and 2.42 ± 1.86, respectively, and using a cut-off value of 10 (for PHQ-9) and 3 (for PHQ-2), the prevalence of depressive symptoms was 38.6 and 43.6%, respectively. The Cronbach’s alphas for PHQ-9 and PHQ-2 were, respectively, 0.851 and 0.767, indicating good internal consistency. The CFA results confirmed the one-factor model of the PHQ-9 (χ2/df = 4.29; CFI = 0.98; RMSEA = 0.078 and SRMR = 0.044). Both PHQ-9 and PHQ-2 showed moderate to strong correlation with the measures of WHO-5, HADS-depression, HADS-anxiety, and the GAD-7, confirming convergent validity. In univariate analysis, female sex, long infertility duration, and unsuccessful treatment were significantly associated with depression symptoms. Conclusion Both PHQ-9 and PHQ-2 are brief and easy to use measures of depressive symptoms with good psychometric properties that appear suitable for routine use in patients with infertility.


Diagnostica ◽  
2004 ◽  
Vol 50 (4) ◽  
pp. 171-181 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kerstin Gräfe ◽  
Stephan Zipfel ◽  
Wolfgang Herzog ◽  
Bernd Löwe

Zusammenfassung. Ziel dieser Studie ist die Validierung der deutschen Version des “Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-D)“. Der PHQ wurde zum praktikablen Screening psychischer Störungen für die Primärmedizin entwickelt und erfasst direkt die diagnostischen Kriterien des DSM-IV. N = 357 allgemeinmedizinische/internistische Patienten und N = 171 psychosomatische Patienten wurden mit dem PHQ-D und dem Strukturierten Klinischen Interview für DSM-IV (SKID-I) untersucht, wobei das SKID-I als diagnostischer Goldstandard diente. Ärzte und Patienten wurden zur Akzeptanz des PHQ-D befragt. Eine ausgezeichnete Kriteriumsvalidität des PHQ-D zeigte sich insbesondere bei der Diagnose der Major Depression, wo die Sensitivität für die medizinische Stichprobe bei 95% und die Spezifität bei 86% lag. Gute teststatistische Werte ergaben sich u.a. auch für die Panikstörung. Die Anwendung des PHQ-D wurde von jeweils mehr als 90% der Patienten und Ärzte gut akzeptiert. Mit dem PHQ-D liegt ein praktikables, valides und gut akzeptiertes Instrument zur Anwendung in Forschung und klinischer Praxis vor. Sein Einsatz kann zur verbesserten Versorgung psychischer Störungen beitragen.


CNS Spectrums ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 25 (2) ◽  
pp. 276-277
Author(s):  
Carol Jamieson ◽  
Nan Li ◽  
Ella Daly ◽  
Adam Janik ◽  
Rosanne Lane ◽  
...  

Abstract:Objective:To assess the Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-9) as a predictor of relapse of depressive symptoms in treatment-resistant depression (TRD).Method:Analysis included maintenance phase data from SUSTAIN-1 (NCT02493868), a randomized, double-blind, active-controlled study in TRD patients that evaluated efficacy of intranasal esketamine (ESK) + oral antidepressant (AD) vs AD + intranasal placebo in delaying relapse of depressive symptoms. A ≥50% reduction in initial symptom score and total score of ≤12 were considered as response and remission, respectively, using the Montgomery-Asberg Depression Rating Scale. PHQ-9 total score (range, 0–27), PHQ-2 total score (0–6), and individual items of the PHQ-9 (0–3) were examined as predictors of relapse. Data were collected every 2 weeks. Association between time-varying PHQ-9 and event of depression relapse was evaluated in Andersen-Gill Cox model.Results:Of 176 stable remitters, 63 had a relapse event (ESK+AD [n=24]; AD+placebo [n=39]). Of 121 stable responders, 50 had a relapse event (ESK+AD [n=16]; AD+placebo [n=34]). Among stable remitters, PHQ-9 total score (HR; 95% CI [1.12; 1.04–1.21]) and PHQ-2 total score (1.58; 1.25–1.99) were associated with relapse risk. PHQ-9 items #1 (loss of pleasure, 2.07; 1.38–3.09), #2 (feeling down, 2.18; 1.51–3.15), #4 (feeling tired, 1.54; 1.13–2.11), and #6 (negative self-view, 2.27; 1.41–3.66) were associated with relapse risk. PHQ-2 total scale yielded the smallest Akaike’s Information Criterion among stable remitters and responders.Conclusion:PHQ-9, PHQ-2 total scores or individual items may be useful for predicting relapse of depressive symptoms among stable TRD patients.Funding Acknowledgements:This study was sponsored by Janssen Research and Development, LLC.


2020 ◽  
Vol 19 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Ching-Yen Chen ◽  
Jian-Hong Chen ◽  
Shao-Chun Ree ◽  
Chun-Wei Chang ◽  
Sheng-Hsiang Yu

Abstract Background Women are well known to be susceptible to developing affective disorders, yet little attention has been given to effects of ovariectomy-reduced hormones and links with depression. This population-based cross-sectional study aimed to investigate possible associations between ovariectomy-reduced hormones and depression symptom scores of the Patient Health Questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9) in ovariectomized women. Methods Data of PHQ-9 scores, demographics and comorbidities of ovariectomized women were extracted from the U.S. National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) database (2013–2016) and were analyzed retrospectively. Results Among ovariectomized women in the NHANES database, serum estradiol levels were significantly positively associated with PHQ-9 scores (ß = 0.014, 95% CI: 0.001, 0.028, P = 0.040), whereas serum testosterone was negatively associated with PHQ-9 scores (ß = -0.033, 95% CI: − 0.048, − 0.018, P < 0.001) after adjusting for confounders. Further stratified analyses revealed that serum estradiol was positively associated with PHQ-9 only among women with history of estrogen use. Serum testosterone levels were negatively associated with PHQ-9 among women with or without prior estrogen use but this was only observed among women aged <  = 60 years (ß = − 0.057, − 0.076, − 0.038, P < 0.001). Conclusions Serum estradiol and testosterone are associated with PHQ-9 scores indicative for depression in ovariectomized women. The associations are modified by age and history of estrogen use. Future prospective studies are warranted to confirm these findings, carefully addressing possible confounding of age-related dementia.


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