Prof K C Dube Poster Award

Abstract

Background:The Hair cortisol levels (HairF) reflect average serum cortisol levels longitudinally practically similar to HbA1c levels for blood glucose levels. There are conflicting reports of higher serum cortisol levels due to hyperactive Hypothalamus-Pituitary-Adrenal Axis, in Anxiety, particularly Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD), which is a common, disabling condition, that remains under-detected.Aims:To determine validity of the HairF in detecting GAD.Methodology:Consenting study participants (N=66) included those with GAD (n=40) and Healthy Controls (n=26) at Psychiatry Outpatients of Gadag Institute of Medical Sciences in year 2020 provided hair sample for study. HairF was assessed as per standardized ELISA method, validated by Kirschbaum and colleagues (2009). GAD diagnosis was made by Consultant Psychiatrist, who also administered Hamilton Anxiety Rating Scale (HAM-A) and received Patient Health Questionnaire 4 (PHQ-4) for all participants; HairF were evaluated by Consultant Biochemist, was blind to participants’ diagnosis.Results:Study found correlations of HairF with HAM-A scores (r2 = 0.61; p<.001) & PHQ-4 scores (r2 = 0.52; p<.001). The ROC statistics found that the AUC against gold standard of clinical GAD diagnosis, for HairF was 0.98 (p<.001), HAM-A was 0.99 (p<.001) and PHQ-4 was 0.92 (p<.001). The optimum cut-off of HairF of 88.4 pg/mg had 98.5% sensitivity and 92.5% specificity.Discussion:HairF test is not only a substitute for clinician rated HAM-A and self-reported PHQ-4, but provide anxiety states longitudinally, moreover it is objective. Study limitations were that Control group had lower sample size and were younger. Also, study should have evaluated HairF levels post treatment.Conclusion:HairF test can be a simple objective diagnostic aid in detecting GAD could help Primary Care Physicians, if a simple test kit becomes available to treat early. This highlights the need for pertinent inter-discipline collaboration for similar future Translational Psychiatry Research.Word count of abstract: 292 Corresponding, Submitting & Presenting Author: