The method of objective assessment of the effectiveness of treatment of patients with depression

Abstract

The purpose of the work is to creation of a method for an objective assessment of the eff ectiveness of therapy for patients with depression. A total of 97 patients with depression (main group), an average age of 40.94 ± 1.25 years (among them 51 peop le diagnosed with a depressive episode (F32 according to ICD-10) and 46 people diagnosed with recurrent depression (F33 according to ICD-10) were examined, as well as 64 practically healthy individuals, with an average age of 41.21 ± 1.21 years (control group). We used clinical-psychopathological, psychometric (computer versions Zung and HADS scales, Spielberger-Khanin and AUDIT tests, and also Derogatis questionnaire), as well as psychophysiological methods. The latter method involved the use of software-hardware complex "Reocom-stress" (manufacturer: "KhAI-Medika", Kharkiv, Ukraine) in the "Attitude to the topic" mode with gistration of the psychophysiological response to the groups of questions (thematic groups) contained in the above-mentioned psychometric methods. All the methods described during the study were applied twice, with an interval of 17—19 days. It was shown that the three channels of information used in the study (scale scores in points, reaction time to the presented stimuli, and attitude to the topic) are relatively independent of each other and carry additional information about the mental status of the respondents. It is proved that the chronometric channel of information among others is the most sensitive to changes in the mental status of patients with depression during their treatment. It was established that the hig hest diagnostic properties, in terms of an objective assessment of the eff ectiveness of therapy for patients with depression (sensitivity — 86.60 %, specifi city —96.88 % and faultlessness — 90.68 %), are inherent in the Zung scale (in its computer version, with the function estimates of the respondent’s response to each question / statement). Together with the simplicity of implementation, such properties make this method of evaluating the eff ectiveness of therapy quite suitable for practical use. Key words: depression, therapy eff ectiveness, objective assessment, psychophysiological reactions