High Reactivity of the Cortisol Awakening Response Predicts Positive Treatment Outcome in Heterogeneous Depressed Patients Completing an Alternate Milieu Inpatient Program

Delineating clinically meaningful subgroups within heterogeneous depressed populations is a major challenge. As outlined in the Research Domain Criteria Strategy (RDOCS), biomarkers may help to empirically classify such patients. Following this basic strategy, the current pilot study examined whether the Cortisol Awakening Response (CAR) following admission to hospital predicts treatment response in heterogeneous depressed patients completing a four-week alternate-milieu inpatient program.

Source: General Hospital Psychiatry - June 10, 2015 Category: Psychiatry Authors: Brett D.M. Jones, Kevin K. Chopra, Jessica Grummitt, Arun Ravindran, Stephen G. Matthews, Robert D. Levitan Source Type: research