Relations between a standardized experimental stressor and cutaneous sensory function in patients with chronic pruritus and healthy controls: an experimental case-control study

Background

While chronic pruritus (CP) is a frequent symptom, many aspects of its underlying pathophysiological mechanisms still need elucidation. Research on sensory cutaneous function and on the influence of stress has been conducted mainly in patients with atopic dermatitis but is lacking for patients with CP.

Objective

To assess whether a standardized social stressor influences cutaneous sensory function in patients with CP in comparison with healthy controls (HC).

Methods

Case–control study; 33 CP and 30 HC were submitted to the standardized quantitative sensory testing protocol before and after the Trier Social Stress Test and 1 h later. Intraepidermal nerve fibre density (IENFD) was determined.

Results

Mechanical pain sensitivity and mechanical detection thresholds were significantly higher in CP than in HC, and mechanical detection thresholds increased more in CP than in HC over the three measurements. In both groups, cold pain threshold increased and heat pain threshold decreased from before to after the stress test and remained constant 1 h later. Only in CP, almost all QST tests induced at least a small amount of pruritus, which was not significantly altered by the stress test. IENFD in pruritic skin was significantly reduced in CP when compared to healthy controls.

Conclusion

Peripheral thermal sensory function was not altered in CP despite reduced IENFD in lesional skin, but we could demonstrate central sensitization processes specifically in CP and influences of an acute stressor inducing more sensitivity to thermal pain in both groups.

Cost-effectiveness of focal psychodynamic therapy and enhanced cognitive-behavioural therapy in out-patients with anorexia nervosa

BACKGROUND

Anorexia nervosa (AN) is a serious illness leading to substantial morbidity and mortality. The treatment of AN very often is protracted; repeated hospitalizations and lost productivity generate substantial economic costs in the health care system. Therefore, this study aimed to determine the differential cost-effectiveness of out-patient focal psychodynamic psychotherapy (FPT), enhanced cognitive-behavioural therapy (CBT-E), and optimized treatment as usual (TAU-O) in the treatment of adult women with AN.

METHOD

The analysis was conducted alongside the randomized controlled Anorexia Nervosa Treatment of OutPatients (ANTOP) study. Cost-effectiveness was determined using direct costs per recovery at 22 months post-randomization (n = 156). Unadjusted incremental cost-effectiveness ratios (ICERs) were calculated. To derive cost-effectiveness acceptability curves (CEACs) adjusted net-benefit regressions were applied assuming different values for the maximum willingness to pay (WTP) per additional recovery. Cost-utility and assumptions underlying the base case were investigated in exploratory analyses.

RESULTS

Costs of in-patient treatment and the percentage of patients who required in-patient treatment were considerably lower in both intervention groups. The unadjusted ICERs indicated FPT and CBT-E to be dominant compared with TAU-O. Moreover, FPT was dominant compared with CBT-E. CEACs showed that the probability for cost-effectiveness of FTP compared with TAU-O and CBT-E was ⩾95% if the WTP per recovery was ⩾€9825 and ⩾€24 550, respectively. Comparing CBT-E with TAU-O, the probability of being cost-effective remained <90% for all WTPs. The exploratory analyses showed similar but less pronounced trends.

CONCLUSIONS

Depending on the WTP, FPT proved cost-effective in the treatment of adult AN.

How do patients with anorexia nervosa "process" psychotherapy between sessions? A comparison of cognitive-behavioral and psychodynamic interventions

OBJECTIVE

Patients' processing of psychotherapy between sessions ("inter-session process" (ISP)) has been repeatedly shown to be related to outcome. The aim of this study was to compare ISP characteristics of cognitive-behavioral vs. psychodynamic psychotherapy in the treatment of anorexia nervosa (AN) and their relation to outcome.

METHODS

Data of 106 patients participating in a randomized-controlled trial who received either 40 sessions of enhanced cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT-E) or focal psychodynamic therapy (FPT) were analyzed. The ISP was measured with the Inter-session Experience Questionnaire (IEQ). Three outcome classes were distinguished: full recovery, partial recovery, and still fulfilling all AN criteria.

RESULTS

Patients receiving CBT-E reported more on "applying therapy" in the initial and the final treatment phase compared to FPT patients. In terms of process-outcome relations, higher levels of "recreating the therapeutic dialogue between sessions," "recreating the therapeutic dialogue with negative emotions" as well as "applying therapy with negative emotions" in the final phase of treatment predicted negative outcome in FPT, whereas overall higher levels of negative emotions predicted negative outcome in CBT-E.

CONCLUSIONS

In outpatient treatment in AN, the processing of therapy as measured by the IEQ showed surprisingly few differences between CBT-E and FPT. However, different ISP patterns were predictive of outcome, pointing to different mechanisms of change.

[The "Sisi syndrome": a new form of depression?]

A new depressive entity called the "Sisi syndrome," named in reference to the former empress of Austria, was introduced by a drug company in 1998. Their advertising campaign presents information about nosology, symptoms, and recommended therapy. We review the relevant literature about this syndrome and are not able to confirm the statements about it. The lack of scientific proof of it as an independent entity of depression stands in contrast to the widespread media coverage in Germany, which was organized by a public relations company. Therefore, we discuss new kinds of marketing strategies ("disease mongering") by drug companies and conclude with some preventive recommendations.

[Diagnosis related groups in psychiatry and psychotherapy--alternatives to DRGs]

Diagnosis related groups (DRGs) will be introduced in Germany in 2003 as a basis for hospital funding in all areas except for psychiatry and psychotherapeutic medicine. The following article provides an overview of the use of alternative casemix-systems in the treatment of patients with mental disorders. Overall, DRGs and alternative systems have proven to be poor predictors of resource consumption due to the high variation in the length of stay and the variable treatment opportunities. Therefore, a DRG-system must include the possibility of coded therapeutic treatments, analogous to the procedures used in surgical DRGs, in order to integrate psychiatry and psychotherapeutic medicine into a DRG-based payment system.

Polythetic diagnostic approach to the borderline personality disorder. the valency of the single criterion in the concept of professional therapists

The present study addresses the question whether the polythetic approach of ICD-10 and DSM-IV is useful in clinical practice for the diagnosis 'Borderline' personality disorder (BPD). A questionnaire containing all individual criteria for the 9 personality disorders and the schizotypal disorder used by the ICD-10, completed by the DSM-IV criteria for the BPD not covered by the ICD-10, was developed. Eight hundred therapists were asked to mark the importance of every single criterion for forming the diagnosis or for ruling out BPD. Our data analysis of the received questionnaires performed a rankscore based on an altered calculation of the mean value. The criteria which described the patients' instability in relationship and mood, and identity disturbances were seen as the most important features for the diagnosis of BPD. The criterion of cognitive disturbances, newly introduced in DSM-IV, was not felt to be a major clinical feature. In conclusion, our study reflects the results of other authors in the sense that a single criterion cannot be considered pathognomonic for BPD, but has greater importance and a higher priority in establishing the diagnosis BPD. This should be taken into account to reconsider the polythetic concept in favor of a hierarchical approach with core criteria.

[The operational diagnostic approach of the borderline personality disorder. An interview of psychiatrists and psychologists according to their concept of the syndrome]

Despite the diagnostic criteria of the ICD-10 and DSM-IV, the term borderline has been used in a non-specific way for a long time. For our investigation we constructed a questionnaire, which contained the ICD-10 diagnostic criteria for the borderline personality disorder (BPD), plus the criteria for the other personality disorders and for the schizotype disorder. The two additional criteria for the BPD used by the DSM-IV were added. 800 psychiatrists and psychologists were asked to mark all criteria, which they thought were typical for the BPD. By using the operational diagnostic approach for ICD-10 and DSM-IV a disorder was diagnosed from each of the 162 received questionnaires based on the marked criteria. 92.0% of the questionnaires contained marked criteria for the diagnosis of the BPD by ICD-10 and 96.3% by DSM-IV. In addition each questionnaire contained up to eight other diagnosis. This is a sign for the difficulty to separate the BPD from other personality disorders or the schizotype disorder by using operationalized criteria. Looking at the lack of specificity of the operational diagnostic systems for personality disorders, e.g. for the BPD which has been discussed by many authors for years, modification of the diagnostic systems should be considered.