Patient-rated troubling symptoms of depression instrument results correlate with traditional clinician- and patient-rated measures: a secondary analysis of a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial.
BACKGROUND
The Patient-Rated Troubling Symptoms of Depression (PaRTS-D) instrument assesses the presence and troublesomeness of 8 commonly reported depression-related symptoms from the patient's perspective. A post hoc analysis of a double-blind, randomized risperidone augmentation to antidepressant therapy trial in patients with major depressive disorder explored the relationship between the PaRTS-D instrument and other clinician- and patient-rating scales.


METHODS
Patients completed the PaRTS-D; the Patient Global Improvement Scale (PGIS), Quality of Life Enjoyment and Satisfaction Questionnaire (Q-LES-Q), and the Sheehan Disability Scale (SDS), while clinicians completed the Hamilton Rating Scale for Depression (HRSD-17), and the Clinical Global Impressions of Severity (CGI-S) at baseline and at pre-determined study weeks.


RESULTS
In the PaRTS-D instrument, the four most frequently reported and troublesome symptoms were sadness (73.5%, severity 6.8), trouble concentrating (70.9%, 7.3), reduced involvement in pleasurable activities (61.9%, 7.3), and being tense or uptight (56.0%, 6.7). The improvement in PaRTS-D total score was significantly greater in risperidone-augmented compared with placebo-augmented patients at week 4 (p=0.034) and week 6 (p=0.007). Pearson correlations between the PaRTS-D scores and the measures of HRSD-17, CGI-S, PGIS, Q-LES-Q, and SDS were significant at both baseline and at week 6 LOCF (p<0.001 for each comparison).


CONCLUSIONS
Results are from a post hoc analysis.


CONCLUSIONS
Significant correlations were observed between the PaRTS-D and other clinician- and patient-rated measures, with PaRTS-D being sensitive to the effects of treatment. These findings suggest that the PaRTS-D instrument is a reliable scale to assess antidepressant activity as experienced by the patients.
Pandina
Gahan J
GJ
Johnson & Johnson Pharmaceutical Research & Development, Titusville, NJ 08560, USA. gpandina@prdus.jnj.com
Revicki
Dennis A
DA
Kleinman
Leah
L
Turkoz
Ibrahim
I
Wu
Jasmanda H
JH
Kujawa
Mary J
MJ
Mahmoud
Ramy
R
Gharabawi
Georges M
GM