Feeling depressed, even suicidal, despite the abundant sunshine and warm temperatures?
You’re not alone in this county. According to the 2011 Ashtabula County Health Needs Assessment, 8 percent of Ashtabula County adults considered attempting suicide in the past year and 2 percent actually attempted it. And 15 percent of adults recently had a period of two or more weeks when they felt so sad and hopeless every day that they stopped doing some usual activities. Among those who had incomes below $25,000, the percentage rose to 35 percent.
The numbers for county youth are even more disturbing. In 2011, 15 percent of Ashtabula County youth reported they seriously considered attempting suicide in the prior 12 months. One quarter of the youth said they felt sad or hopeless almost every day for two weeks or more. That percentage is the same for Ohio and slightly less for youth nationally.
A worldwide study to evaluate the characteristics and treatments of depression is under way in 20 nations on five continents. The largest study of its kind, the International Study to Predict Optimized Treatment of Depression (i-SPOT-d), is seeking participants from Ohio. Volunteers will undergo a psychiatric evaluation, cognitive and genetic testing, and an assessment of electrical brain activity, to better determine factors associated with their depression that can predict specific response to the three most commonly used antidepressants. After these assessments, participants are randomized to receive one of three U.S. Food and Drug Administration-approved antidepressants.
A team of psychiatrists, residents, nurses and researchers in The Ohio State Wexner Medical Center’s Department of Psychiatry are collaborating to enhance the diagnosis, classification and treatment of depression by identifying valid predictors of effective treatment response for depression.
“Part of i-SPOT-d is to look at genetic and cognitive markers and markers for brain function and structure. The study will look at objective evidence that will help us determine which patient is going to respond to which treatment so we can then individualize and optimize their treatment,” said Dr. Subhdeep Virk, a psychiatrist and principal investigator of the study at Ohio State’s Wexner Medical Center.
According to Virk, one critical challenge to treating a patient with depression is the inability to predict who is going to respond to which medication. The duration of a majority of trials evaluating the effectiveness of a treatment lasts only six to eight weeks. The i-SPOT-d study involves following patients for a longer period of time to better assess the effectiveness and potential side effects of various antidepressants. Virk hopes this research method will improve treatment safety and effectiveness, as well as patient compliance and communication with their health care providers.
“We are hoping to find safer treatment options that will also give us a more expeditious response for those suffering from depression and to cease using a ‘trial and error’ approach to assess response, which can take up to six weeks. This ground-breaking study has the potential to change the way in which personalized medicine is implemented in treatment of depression,” Virk adds.
Depression is a common, often chronic mental illness which causes feelings of sadness, guilt and low self-worth; loss of interest and pleasure; disturbed sleep and appetite; low energy and poor concentration; physical pain and thoughts of suicide. According to a recent study conducted by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, antidepressant use in the U.S. alone has increased by 400 percent over the last 25 years. Researchers predict that by 2020, depression will be the second leading cause of disability worldwide.
To be eligible for the i-SPOT-d, participants must be 18 to 65 years old, currently depressed and willing to take one of three FDA-approved antidepressants. Participation involves two clinic visits and eight follow-up web-based questionnaires spanning 12 months. Visit go.osu.edu/KBB or contact Sherri Kirk, College of Medicine and Center for Personalized Health Care Public Relations, 614-366-3277, or Sherri.Kirk@osumc.edu, for information on participating in the study.
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