PMID- 6469926
OWN - NLM
STAT- MEDLINE
DCOM- 19841012
LR  - 20151119
IS  - 0160-6689 (Print)
IS  - 0160-6689 (Linking)
VI  - 45
IP  - 9
DP  - 1984 Sep
TI  - Dexamethasone suppression in depressed elderly outpatients.
PG  - 397-8
AB  - The dexamethasone suppression test (DST) was performed as part of the preliminary 
      workup in 85 previously untreated outpatients with major affective disorder, 
      unipolar depressive type, who were over age 60. All patients were given a 
      systematic structured interview (NIMH-DIS), and all had scores over 20 on the 
      21-item Hamilton Depression Rating Scale (HAM-D). Only 12 patients (14%) had 
      positive DSTs; more of the non-melancholic (6 of 25; 24%) than melancholic (6 of 
      60; 10%) patients failed to suppress serum cortisol following standard 
      dexamethasone challenge (p less than .10). DST results did not correlate with 
      patients' HAM-D or Zung depression scores, gender, response to treatment, or any 
      other variable studied. These findings suggest that, in comparison to previous 
      reports, a positive DST may be 1) less common in major depressive disorders, 2) 
      no more common in more severely depressed patients, and 3) less relevant to 
      indications for specific treatment.
FAU - Allen, R E
AU  - Allen RE
FAU - Pitts, F N Jr
AU  - Pitts FN Jr
LA  - eng
PT  - Journal Article
PL  - United States
TA  - J Clin Psychiatry
JT  - The Journal of clinical psychiatry
JID - 7801243
RN  - 7S5I7G3JQL (Dexamethasone)
RN  - WI4X0X7BPJ (Hydrocortisone)
SB  - IM
MH  - Aged
MH  - *Ambulatory Care
MH  - Depressive Disorder/blood/*diagnosis
MH  - *Dexamethasone
MH  - Diagnosis, Differential
MH  - Evaluation Studies as Topic
MH  - Female
MH  - Humans
MH  - Hydrocortisone/blood
MH  - Male
MH  - Personality Inventory
MH  - Psychiatric Status Rating Scales
EDAT- 1984/09/01 00:00
MHDA- 2001/03/28 10:01
CRDT- 1984/09/01 00:00
PHST- 1984/09/01 00:00 [pubmed]
PHST- 2001/03/28 10:01 [medline]
PHST- 1984/09/01 00:00 [entrez]
PST - ppublish
SO  - J Clin Psychiatry. 1984 Sep;45(9):397-8.