Behavioral Health

THE CASE

Janice J* visits her family physician with complaints of chest pain, shortness of breath, and heart palpitations that are usually worse at night. Her medical history is significant for deep vein thrombosis secondary to an underlying hypercoagulability condition (rheumatoid arthritis) diagnosed 2 months earlier. She also has a history of opioid use disorder and has been on buprenorphine/naloxone therapy for 3 years. Her family medical history is unremarkable. She works full-time and lives with her 8-year-old son. On physical exam, she appears anxious; her cardiac and pulmonary exams are normal. A completed workup rules out cardiac or pulmonary problems.

• What is your diagnosis?
• How would you treat this patient?

* The patient’s name has been changed to protect her identity.

CO-OCCURRING DISORDERS: SCOPE OF THE PROBLEM

Co-occurring disorders, previously called “dual diagnosis,” refers to the coexistence of a mental health disorder and a substance use disorder. The obsolete term, dual diagnosis, specified the presence of 2 co-occurring Axis I diagnoses or the presence of an Axis I diagnosis and an Axis II diagnosis (such as mental disability). The change in nomenclature more precisely describes the co-existing mental health and substance use disorders.

Currently the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, 5th edition, (DSM-5) includes no diagnostic criteria for this dual condition.¹ The criteria for mental health disorders and for substance use disorders comprise separate lists. Criteria for substance use disorder fall broadly into categories of “impaired [self] control, social impairment, risky behaviors, increased tolerance, and withdrawal symptoms.”¹ It is estimated that 8.5 million US adults have co-occurring disorders, per the 2017 National Survey on Drug Use and Health conducted by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration.² Distinguishing which of the 2 conditions occurred first can be challenging. It has been suggested that the lifetime prevalence of a mental health disorder with a coexisting substance use disorder is greater than 40%^3,4 (TABLE 1^1,4-8). For patients with schizophrenia and bipolar disorder, these numbers may be higher.

The consequences of undiagnosed and untreated co-occurring disorders include poor medication adherence, physical comorbidities (and decreased overall health), diminished self-care, increased suicide risk or aggression, increased risky sexual behavior, and possible incarceration.⁹

WHEN SHOULD YOU SUSPECT CO-OCCURRING DISORDERS?

With some patients, only one diagnosis may be apparent at a given point, which could make it difficult to expeditiously recognize the onset of a co-occurring condition. For example, if a patient with anxiety has been treated successfully for years and then experiences a worsening of symptoms, it’s possible a physician might increase the dosage of anxiety medication without reevaluating for a substance use disorder. However, when both co-occurring disorders are present, the patient usually exhibits a greater number of symptoms and, if the full scope of the condition remains unrecognized, will likely respond poorly to therapy and have a prolonged course to resolution.^3,8-13 Consider a co-occurring substance use disorder if treatment resistance persists, or if a patient has a recurrence or an exacerbation of a previously well-treated psychiatric disorder.

The estimated lifetime prevalence of coexisting mental health and substance use disorders is > 40%.

Diagnosing a second condition can also be difficult when a patient’s symptoms are actually adverse effects of substances or prescribed medications. For example, a patient with worsening anxiety may also exhibit increasing blood pressure resistant to treatment. The cause of the patient’s fluctuating blood pressures may actually be the result of his or her use of alcohol to self-treat the anxiety. In addition to self-medication, other underlying factors may be at play, including genetic vulnerability, environment, and lifestyle.¹⁴ In the case we present, the patient’s conditions arose independently.

Anxiety disorders, with a lifetime risk of 28.8% in the US population,⁴ may be the primary mental health issue in many patients with co-occurring disorders, but this cannot be assumed in lieu of a complete workup.^2,8,9,15 Substance use disorders in the general population have a past-year and lifetime prevalence of 14.6%.^1,4,16,17 Because the causal and temporal association between anxiety and substance abuse is not always clear, it’s important to separate the diagnoses of the mental health and substance use disorders.

Continue to: MAKING THE DIAGNOSIS

To make an accurate diagnosis of co-occurring disorder, it is essential to take a complete history focusing on the timeline of symptoms, previous diagnoses and treatments, if any, and substance-free periods. Details gathered from these inquiries will help to separate symptoms of a primary mental health disorder from adverse effects of medication, withdrawal symptoms, or symptoms related to an underlying chronic medical condition.

Optimally, the diagnosis of a mental health disorder should be considered following a ­substance-free period. If this is not possible, a chart review may reveal a time when the patient did not have a substance use ­disorder.¹⁸

A diagnosis of substance use disorder requires that the patient manifest at least 2 of 11 behaviors listed in the DSM-5 over a 12-month period.¹ The criteria focus on the amount of substance used, the time spent securing the substance, risky behaviors associated with the substance, and tolerance to the substance.

DON'T DEFER MENTAL HEALTH Tx

It is necessary to treat co-occurring disorders simultaneously. The old idea of deferring treatment of a mental health issue until the substance use disorder is resolved no longer ­applies.^19,20 Treating substance use problems without addressing comorbid mental health ­issues can negatively impact treatment progress and increase risk for relapse. In a similar way, leaving substance use problems untreated is associated with nonadherence in mental health treatment, poor engagement, and dropout.^21,22

Integrated services. Due to this condition’s level of clinical complexity, the optimal treatment approach is an interdisciplinary one in which integrated services are offered at a single location by a team of medical, mental health, and substance use providers (see “The case for behavioral health integration into primary care” in the June issue). An evidence-based example of such an approach is the Integrated Dual Disorder Treatment (IDDT) model—a comprehensive, integrated method of treating severe mental health disorders, including substance use disorders.^21,22 IDDT combines coordinated services such as pharmacologic, psychological, educational, and social interventions to address the needs of patients and their family members. The IDDT model conceptualizes and treats co-occurring disorders within a biopsychosocial framework. Specific services may include medical detoxification, pharmacotherapy, patient and family education, behavioral and cognitive therapies, contingency management, self-help support groups, supported employment, residential/housing assistance, and case management services.^23,24

Continue to: Medications for the mental health component

Medications for the mental health component. For patients who prefer medication treatment to cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT), or for whom CBT is unavailable, treat the mental health disorder per customary practice for the diagnosis (TABLE 2^25-30). For psychotic disorders, use an antipsychotic, adding a selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor (SSRI) or serotonin-norepinephrine reuptake inhibitor (SNRI) as needed depending on the presence of negative symptoms.^25,31 For bipolar spectrum disorder, start a mood stabilizer³²; for depressive disorders initiate an SSRI or SNRI.²⁷ Anxiety disorders respond optimally when treated with SSRIs or SNRIs. Buspirone may be prescribed alone or as an adjunct for anxiety, and it does not cause mood-altering or withdrawal effects. Benzodiazepines in a controlled and monitored setting are an option in some antianxiety treatment plans. Consultation with a psychiatrist will help to determine the best treatment in these situations.

In all cases, treat the substance use disorder concurrently. Treatment options vary depending on the substance of choice. Although often overlooked, there can be simultaneous nicotine abuse. Oral or inhaled medications for nicotine abuse treatment are limited. The range of pharmacologic options for alcohol use disorder includes naltrexone, acamprosate, and disulfiram.^29,33 Pharmacologic treatment options for opioid use disorder include naltrexone, methadone, and a combination of naloxone and buprenorphine.³⁴

Consider a co-occurring substance use disorder if treatment resistance persists, or if a patient has a recurrence or an exacerbation of a previously well-treated psychiatric disorder.

Physicians who wish to prescribe buprenorphine must qualify for and complete a certified 8 hour waiver-training course, which is then approved by the Drug Enforcement Agency (under the DATA 2000 – Drug and Alcohol Act 2000). The physician obtains the designation of a data-waived physician and is assigned a special identification number to prescribe these medications.^35,36 Methadone may be provided only in a licensed methadone maintenance program. Regular and random drug urine screen requirements apply to all treatment programs.

Psychosocial and behavioral interventions are essential to the successful treatment of co-occurring disorders. Evidence-based behavioral and cognitive therapies are recommended for promoting adaptive coping skills and healthy lifestyle behaviors in co-occurring disorder populations.^23,24,37-40 Motivational interviewing enhances motivation and adherence when patients demonstrate resistance or ambivalence.^41,42 Mindfulness-based interventions have been shown to be effective and may be particularly beneficial for treating cravings/­urges and promoting relapse prevention.^{37,39,40,43-46}

Psychotropic medications, as with other treatment components, are most effective when used in combination with services that simultaneously address the patient’s biological, psychological, and social needs.

Continue to: The grassroots organization...

The grassroots organization National Alliance on Mental Illness (www.nami.org) recommends self-help and support groups, which include 12-step, faith-based and non-faith–based programs.²⁰

For any treatment method to be successful, there needs to be a level of customization and individualization. Some patients may respond to medication or nonmedication treatments only, and others may need a combination of treatments.

CASE

The physician recalls a past diagnosis of anxiety and asks Ms. J if there are any new stressors or changes causing concern. The patient expresses concern about an opioid use relapse secondary to her recent diagnosis of rheumatoid arthritis, which may be life altering or limiting.

Even though she has been doing well and has been adherent to her daily buprenorphine treatment, she worries for the well-being of her family and what would happen if she cannot work, becomes incapacitated, or dies at a young age. She has never considered herself an anxious person and is surprised that anxiety could cause such pronounced physical symptoms.

Consider a co-occurring substance use disorder if treatment resistance persists, or if a patient has a recurrence or an exacerbation of a previously well-treated psychiatric disorder.

The physician discusses different modalities of treatment, including counseling with an onsite psychologist, a trial of an anti-anxiety medication such as sertraline, or return office visits with the physician. They decide first to schedule an appointment with the psychologist, and Ms. J promises to find more time for self-wellness activities, such as exercise.

After 3 months of therapy, the patient decides to space out treatment to every 2 to 3 months and does not report any more episodes of chest pain or shortness of breath.

CORRESPONDENCE
Kristen Rundell, MD, Northwood-High Building, 2231 N. High Street, Suite 211, Columbus, OH 43201; kristen.rundell@osumc.edu.

THE CASE

Janice J* visits her family physician with complaints of chest pain, shortness of breath, and heart palpitations that are usually worse at night. Her medical history is significant for deep vein thrombosis secondary to an underlying hypercoagulability condition (rheumatoid arthritis) diagnosed 2 months earlier. She also has a history of opioid use disorder and has been on buprenorphine/naloxone therapy for 3 years. Her family medical history is unremarkable. She works full-time and lives with her 8-year-old son. On physical exam, she appears anxious; her cardiac and pulmonary exams are normal. A completed workup rules out cardiac or pulmonary problems.

• What is your diagnosis?
• How would you treat this patient?

* The patient’s name has been changed to protect her identity.

CO-OCCURRING DISORDERS: SCOPE OF THE PROBLEM

Co-occurring disorders, previously called “dual diagnosis,” refers to the coexistence of a mental health disorder and a substance use disorder. The obsolete term, dual diagnosis, specified the presence of 2 co-occurring Axis I diagnoses or the presence of an Axis I diagnosis and an Axis II diagnosis (such as mental disability). The change in nomenclature more precisely describes the co-existing mental health and substance use disorders.

Currently the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, 5th edition, (DSM-5) includes no diagnostic criteria for this dual condition.¹ The criteria for mental health disorders and for substance use disorders comprise separate lists. Criteria for substance use disorder fall broadly into categories of “impaired [self] control, social impairment, risky behaviors, increased tolerance, and withdrawal symptoms.”¹ It is estimated that 8.5 million US adults have co-occurring disorders, per the 2017 National Survey on Drug Use and Health conducted by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration.² Distinguishing which of the 2 conditions occurred first can be challenging. It has been suggested that the lifetime prevalence of a mental health disorder with a coexisting substance use disorder is greater than 40%^3,4 (TABLE 1^1,4-8). For patients with schizophrenia and bipolar disorder, these numbers may be higher.

The consequences of undiagnosed and untreated co-occurring disorders include poor medication adherence, physical comorbidities (and decreased overall health), diminished self-care, increased suicide risk or aggression, increased risky sexual behavior, and possible incarceration.⁹

WHEN SHOULD YOU SUSPECT CO-OCCURRING DISORDERS?

With some patients, only one diagnosis may be apparent at a given point, which could make it difficult to expeditiously recognize the onset of a co-occurring condition. For example, if a patient with anxiety has been treated successfully for years and then experiences a worsening of symptoms, it’s possible a physician might increase the dosage of anxiety medication without reevaluating for a substance use disorder. However, when both co-occurring disorders are present, the patient usually exhibits a greater number of symptoms and, if the full scope of the condition remains unrecognized, will likely respond poorly to therapy and have a prolonged course to resolution.^3,8-13 Consider a co-occurring substance use disorder if treatment resistance persists, or if a patient has a recurrence or an exacerbation of a previously well-treated psychiatric disorder.

The estimated lifetime prevalence of coexisting mental health and substance use disorders is > 40%.

Diagnosing a second condition can also be difficult when a patient’s symptoms are actually adverse effects of substances or prescribed medications. For example, a patient with worsening anxiety may also exhibit increasing blood pressure resistant to treatment. The cause of the patient’s fluctuating blood pressures may actually be the result of his or her use of alcohol to self-treat the anxiety. In addition to self-medication, other underlying factors may be at play, including genetic vulnerability, environment, and lifestyle.¹⁴ In the case we present, the patient’s conditions arose independently.

Anxiety disorders, with a lifetime risk of 28.8% in the US population,⁴ may be the primary mental health issue in many patients with co-occurring disorders, but this cannot be assumed in lieu of a complete workup.^2,8,9,15 Substance use disorders in the general population have a past-year and lifetime prevalence of 14.6%.^1,4,16,17 Because the causal and temporal association between anxiety and substance abuse is not always clear, it’s important to separate the diagnoses of the mental health and substance use disorders.

Continue to: MAKING THE DIAGNOSIS

To make an accurate diagnosis of co-occurring disorder, it is essential to take a complete history focusing on the timeline of symptoms, previous diagnoses and treatments, if any, and substance-free periods. Details gathered from these inquiries will help to separate symptoms of a primary mental health disorder from adverse effects of medication, withdrawal symptoms, or symptoms related to an underlying chronic medical condition.

Optimally, the diagnosis of a mental health disorder should be considered following a ­substance-free period. If this is not possible, a chart review may reveal a time when the patient did not have a substance use ­disorder.¹⁸

A diagnosis of substance use disorder requires that the patient manifest at least 2 of 11 behaviors listed in the DSM-5 over a 12-month period.¹ The criteria focus on the amount of substance used, the time spent securing the substance, risky behaviors associated with the substance, and tolerance to the substance.

DON'T DEFER MENTAL HEALTH Tx

It is necessary to treat co-occurring disorders simultaneously. The old idea of deferring treatment of a mental health issue until the substance use disorder is resolved no longer ­applies.^19,20 Treating substance use problems without addressing comorbid mental health ­issues can negatively impact treatment progress and increase risk for relapse. In a similar way, leaving substance use problems untreated is associated with nonadherence in mental health treatment, poor engagement, and dropout.^21,22

Integrated services. Due to this condition’s level of clinical complexity, the optimal treatment approach is an interdisciplinary one in which integrated services are offered at a single location by a team of medical, mental health, and substance use providers (see “The case for behavioral health integration into primary care” in the June issue). An evidence-based example of such an approach is the Integrated Dual Disorder Treatment (IDDT) model—a comprehensive, integrated method of treating severe mental health disorders, including substance use disorders.^21,22 IDDT combines coordinated services such as pharmacologic, psychological, educational, and social interventions to address the needs of patients and their family members. The IDDT model conceptualizes and treats co-occurring disorders within a biopsychosocial framework. Specific services may include medical detoxification, pharmacotherapy, patient and family education, behavioral and cognitive therapies, contingency management, self-help support groups, supported employment, residential/housing assistance, and case management services.^23,24

Continue to: Medications for the mental health component

Medications for the mental health component. For patients who prefer medication treatment to cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT), or for whom CBT is unavailable, treat the mental health disorder per customary practice for the diagnosis (TABLE 2^25-30). For psychotic disorders, use an antipsychotic, adding a selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor (SSRI) or serotonin-norepinephrine reuptake inhibitor (SNRI) as needed depending on the presence of negative symptoms.^25,31 For bipolar spectrum disorder, start a mood stabilizer³²; for depressive disorders initiate an SSRI or SNRI.²⁷ Anxiety disorders respond optimally when treated with SSRIs or SNRIs. Buspirone may be prescribed alone or as an adjunct for anxiety, and it does not cause mood-altering or withdrawal effects. Benzodiazepines in a controlled and monitored setting are an option in some antianxiety treatment plans. Consultation with a psychiatrist will help to determine the best treatment in these situations.

In all cases, treat the substance use disorder concurrently. Treatment options vary depending on the substance of choice. Although often overlooked, there can be simultaneous nicotine abuse. Oral or inhaled medications for nicotine abuse treatment are limited. The range of pharmacologic options for alcohol use disorder includes naltrexone, acamprosate, and disulfiram.^29,33 Pharmacologic treatment options for opioid use disorder include naltrexone, methadone, and a combination of naloxone and buprenorphine.³⁴

Consider a co-occurring substance use disorder if treatment resistance persists, or if a patient has a recurrence or an exacerbation of a previously well-treated psychiatric disorder.

Physicians who wish to prescribe buprenorphine must qualify for and complete a certified 8 hour waiver-training course, which is then approved by the Drug Enforcement Agency (under the DATA 2000 – Drug and Alcohol Act 2000). The physician obtains the designation of a data-waived physician and is assigned a special identification number to prescribe these medications.^35,36 Methadone may be provided only in a licensed methadone maintenance program. Regular and random drug urine screen requirements apply to all treatment programs.

Psychosocial and behavioral interventions are essential to the successful treatment of co-occurring disorders. Evidence-based behavioral and cognitive therapies are recommended for promoting adaptive coping skills and healthy lifestyle behaviors in co-occurring disorder populations.^23,24,37-40 Motivational interviewing enhances motivation and adherence when patients demonstrate resistance or ambivalence.^41,42 Mindfulness-based interventions have been shown to be effective and may be particularly beneficial for treating cravings/­urges and promoting relapse prevention.^{37,39,40,43-46}

Psychotropic medications, as with other treatment components, are most effective when used in combination with services that simultaneously address the patient’s biological, psychological, and social needs.

Continue to: The grassroots organization...

The grassroots organization National Alliance on Mental Illness (www.nami.org) recommends self-help and support groups, which include 12-step, faith-based and non-faith–based programs.²⁰

For any treatment method to be successful, there needs to be a level of customization and individualization. Some patients may respond to medication or nonmedication treatments only, and others may need a combination of treatments.

CASE

The physician recalls a past diagnosis of anxiety and asks Ms. J if there are any new stressors or changes causing concern. The patient expresses concern about an opioid use relapse secondary to her recent diagnosis of rheumatoid arthritis, which may be life altering or limiting.

Even though she has been doing well and has been adherent to her daily buprenorphine treatment, she worries for the well-being of her family and what would happen if she cannot work, becomes incapacitated, or dies at a young age. She has never considered herself an anxious person and is surprised that anxiety could cause such pronounced physical symptoms.

Consider a co-occurring substance use disorder if treatment resistance persists, or if a patient has a recurrence or an exacerbation of a previously well-treated psychiatric disorder.

The physician discusses different modalities of treatment, including counseling with an onsite psychologist, a trial of an anti-anxiety medication such as sertraline, or return office visits with the physician. They decide first to schedule an appointment with the psychologist, and Ms. J promises to find more time for self-wellness activities, such as exercise.

After 3 months of therapy, the patient decides to space out treatment to every 2 to 3 months and does not report any more episodes of chest pain or shortness of breath.

CORRESPONDENCE
Kristen Rundell, MD, Northwood-High Building, 2231 N. High Street, Suite 211, Columbus, OH 43201; kristen.rundell@osumc.edu.

THE CASE

Janice J* visits her family physician with complaints of chest pain, shortness of breath, and heart palpitations that are usually worse at night. Her medical history is significant for deep vein thrombosis secondary to an underlying hypercoagulability condition (rheumatoid arthritis) diagnosed 2 months earlier. She also has a history of opioid use disorder and has been on buprenorphine/naloxone therapy for 3 years. Her family medical history is unremarkable. She works full-time and lives with her 8-year-old son. On physical exam, she appears anxious; her cardiac and pulmonary exams are normal. A completed workup rules out cardiac or pulmonary problems.

• What is your diagnosis?
• How would you treat this patient?

* The patient’s name has been changed to protect her identity.

CO-OCCURRING DISORDERS: SCOPE OF THE PROBLEM

Co-occurring disorders, previously called “dual diagnosis,” refers to the coexistence of a mental health disorder and a substance use disorder. The obsolete term, dual diagnosis, specified the presence of 2 co-occurring Axis I diagnoses or the presence of an Axis I diagnosis and an Axis II diagnosis (such as mental disability). The change in nomenclature more precisely describes the co-existing mental health and substance use disorders.

Currently the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, 5th edition, (DSM-5) includes no diagnostic criteria for this dual condition.¹ The criteria for mental health disorders and for substance use disorders comprise separate lists. Criteria for substance use disorder fall broadly into categories of “impaired [self] control, social impairment, risky behaviors, increased tolerance, and withdrawal symptoms.”¹ It is estimated that 8.5 million US adults have co-occurring disorders, per the 2017 National Survey on Drug Use and Health conducted by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration.² Distinguishing which of the 2 conditions occurred first can be challenging. It has been suggested that the lifetime prevalence of a mental health disorder with a coexisting substance use disorder is greater than 40%^3,4 (TABLE 1^1,4-8). For patients with schizophrenia and bipolar disorder, these numbers may be higher.

The consequences of undiagnosed and untreated co-occurring disorders include poor medication adherence, physical comorbidities (and decreased overall health), diminished self-care, increased suicide risk or aggression, increased risky sexual behavior, and possible incarceration.⁹

WHEN SHOULD YOU SUSPECT CO-OCCURRING DISORDERS?

With some patients, only one diagnosis may be apparent at a given point, which could make it difficult to expeditiously recognize the onset of a co-occurring condition. For example, if a patient with anxiety has been treated successfully for years and then experiences a worsening of symptoms, it’s possible a physician might increase the dosage of anxiety medication without reevaluating for a substance use disorder. However, when both co-occurring disorders are present, the patient usually exhibits a greater number of symptoms and, if the full scope of the condition remains unrecognized, will likely respond poorly to therapy and have a prolonged course to resolution.^3,8-13 Consider a co-occurring substance use disorder if treatment resistance persists, or if a patient has a recurrence or an exacerbation of a previously well-treated psychiatric disorder.

The estimated lifetime prevalence of coexisting mental health and substance use disorders is > 40%.

Diagnosing a second condition can also be difficult when a patient’s symptoms are actually adverse effects of substances or prescribed medications. For example, a patient with worsening anxiety may also exhibit increasing blood pressure resistant to treatment. The cause of the patient’s fluctuating blood pressures may actually be the result of his or her use of alcohol to self-treat the anxiety. In addition to self-medication, other underlying factors may be at play, including genetic vulnerability, environment, and lifestyle.¹⁴ In the case we present, the patient’s conditions arose independently.

Anxiety disorders, with a lifetime risk of 28.8% in the US population,⁴ may be the primary mental health issue in many patients with co-occurring disorders, but this cannot be assumed in lieu of a complete workup.^2,8,9,15 Substance use disorders in the general population have a past-year and lifetime prevalence of 14.6%.^1,4,16,17 Because the causal and temporal association between anxiety and substance abuse is not always clear, it’s important to separate the diagnoses of the mental health and substance use disorders.

Continue to: MAKING THE DIAGNOSIS

To make an accurate diagnosis of co-occurring disorder, it is essential to take a complete history focusing on the timeline of symptoms, previous diagnoses and treatments, if any, and substance-free periods. Details gathered from these inquiries will help to separate symptoms of a primary mental health disorder from adverse effects of medication, withdrawal symptoms, or symptoms related to an underlying chronic medical condition.

Optimally, the diagnosis of a mental health disorder should be considered following a ­substance-free period. If this is not possible, a chart review may reveal a time when the patient did not have a substance use ­disorder.¹⁸

A diagnosis of substance use disorder requires that the patient manifest at least 2 of 11 behaviors listed in the DSM-5 over a 12-month period.¹ The criteria focus on the amount of substance used, the time spent securing the substance, risky behaviors associated with the substance, and tolerance to the substance.

DON'T DEFER MENTAL HEALTH Tx

It is necessary to treat co-occurring disorders simultaneously. The old idea of deferring treatment of a mental health issue until the substance use disorder is resolved no longer ­applies.^19,20 Treating substance use problems without addressing comorbid mental health ­issues can negatively impact treatment progress and increase risk for relapse. In a similar way, leaving substance use problems untreated is associated with nonadherence in mental health treatment, poor engagement, and dropout.^21,22

Integrated services. Due to this condition’s level of clinical complexity, the optimal treatment approach is an interdisciplinary one in which integrated services are offered at a single location by a team of medical, mental health, and substance use providers (see “The case for behavioral health integration into primary care” in the June issue). An evidence-based example of such an approach is the Integrated Dual Disorder Treatment (IDDT) model—a comprehensive, integrated method of treating severe mental health disorders, including substance use disorders.^21,22 IDDT combines coordinated services such as pharmacologic, psychological, educational, and social interventions to address the needs of patients and their family members. The IDDT model conceptualizes and treats co-occurring disorders within a biopsychosocial framework. Specific services may include medical detoxification, pharmacotherapy, patient and family education, behavioral and cognitive therapies, contingency management, self-help support groups, supported employment, residential/housing assistance, and case management services.^23,24

Continue to: Medications for the mental health component

Medications for the mental health component. For patients who prefer medication treatment to cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT), or for whom CBT is unavailable, treat the mental health disorder per customary practice for the diagnosis (TABLE 2^25-30). For psychotic disorders, use an antipsychotic, adding a selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor (SSRI) or serotonin-norepinephrine reuptake inhibitor (SNRI) as needed depending on the presence of negative symptoms.^25,31 For bipolar spectrum disorder, start a mood stabilizer³²; for depressive disorders initiate an SSRI or SNRI.²⁷ Anxiety disorders respond optimally when treated with SSRIs or SNRIs. Buspirone may be prescribed alone or as an adjunct for anxiety, and it does not cause mood-altering or withdrawal effects. Benzodiazepines in a controlled and monitored setting are an option in some antianxiety treatment plans. Consultation with a psychiatrist will help to determine the best treatment in these situations.

In all cases, treat the substance use disorder concurrently. Treatment options vary depending on the substance of choice. Although often overlooked, there can be simultaneous nicotine abuse. Oral or inhaled medications for nicotine abuse treatment are limited. The range of pharmacologic options for alcohol use disorder includes naltrexone, acamprosate, and disulfiram.^29,33 Pharmacologic treatment options for opioid use disorder include naltrexone, methadone, and a combination of naloxone and buprenorphine.³⁴

Consider a co-occurring substance use disorder if treatment resistance persists, or if a patient has a recurrence or an exacerbation of a previously well-treated psychiatric disorder.

Physicians who wish to prescribe buprenorphine must qualify for and complete a certified 8 hour waiver-training course, which is then approved by the Drug Enforcement Agency (under the DATA 2000 – Drug and Alcohol Act 2000). The physician obtains the designation of a data-waived physician and is assigned a special identification number to prescribe these medications.^35,36 Methadone may be provided only in a licensed methadone maintenance program. Regular and random drug urine screen requirements apply to all treatment programs.

Psychosocial and behavioral interventions are essential to the successful treatment of co-occurring disorders. Evidence-based behavioral and cognitive therapies are recommended for promoting adaptive coping skills and healthy lifestyle behaviors in co-occurring disorder populations.^23,24,37-40 Motivational interviewing enhances motivation and adherence when patients demonstrate resistance or ambivalence.^41,42 Mindfulness-based interventions have been shown to be effective and may be particularly beneficial for treating cravings/­urges and promoting relapse prevention.^{37,39,40,43-46}

Psychotropic medications, as with other treatment components, are most effective when used in combination with services that simultaneously address the patient’s biological, psychological, and social needs.

Continue to: The grassroots organization...

The grassroots organization National Alliance on Mental Illness (www.nami.org) recommends self-help and support groups, which include 12-step, faith-based and non-faith–based programs.²⁰

For any treatment method to be successful, there needs to be a level of customization and individualization. Some patients may respond to medication or nonmedication treatments only, and others may need a combination of treatments.

CASE

The physician recalls a past diagnosis of anxiety and asks Ms. J if there are any new stressors or changes causing concern. The patient expresses concern about an opioid use relapse secondary to her recent diagnosis of rheumatoid arthritis, which may be life altering or limiting.

Even though she has been doing well and has been adherent to her daily buprenorphine treatment, she worries for the well-being of her family and what would happen if she cannot work, becomes incapacitated, or dies at a young age. She has never considered herself an anxious person and is surprised that anxiety could cause such pronounced physical symptoms.

Consider a co-occurring substance use disorder if treatment resistance persists, or if a patient has a recurrence or an exacerbation of a previously well-treated psychiatric disorder.

The physician discusses different modalities of treatment, including counseling with an onsite psychologist, a trial of an anti-anxiety medication such as sertraline, or return office visits with the physician. They decide first to schedule an appointment with the psychologist, and Ms. J promises to find more time for self-wellness activities, such as exercise.

After 3 months of therapy, the patient decides to space out treatment to every 2 to 3 months and does not report any more episodes of chest pain or shortness of breath.

CORRESPONDENCE
Kristen Rundell, MD, Northwood-High Building, 2231 N. High Street, Suite 211, Columbus, OH 43201; kristen.rundell@osumc.edu.

In a typical primary care practice, detecting and managing mental health problems competes with other priorities such as treating acute physical illness, monitoring chronic disease, providing preventive health services, and assessing compliance with standards of care.¹ These competing demands for a primary care provider’s time, paired with limited mental health resources in the community, may result in suboptimal behavioral health care.^1-3 Even when referrals are made to mental health care providers, depression is adequately treated only 20% of the time.^2,3 Additionally, individuals with serious mental illness and substance use disorders often do not receive adequate general medical care.^4,5

Approximately 30% of adults with physical disorders also have one or more behavioral health conditions, such as anxiety, panic, mood, or substance use disorders.⁶ Although physical and behavioral health conditions are inextricably linked, their assessment and treatment get separated into different silos.⁷ Given that fewer than 20% of depressed patients are seen by a psychiatrist or psychologist,⁸ the responsibility of providing mental health care often falls on the primary care physician.^8,9

Efforts to improve the treatment of common mental disorders in primary care have traditionally focused on screening for these disorders, educating primary care providers, developing treatment guidelines, and referring patients to mental health specialty care.¹⁰ However, behavioral health integration offers another way forward.

WHAT IS BEHAVIORAL HEALTH INTEGRATION?

Behavioral health integration (BHI) in primary care refers to primary care physicians and behavioral health clinicians working in concert with patients to address their primary care and behavioral health needs.¹¹

Numerous overlapping terms have been used to describe BHI, and this has caused some confusion. In 2013, the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) issued a lexicon standardizing the terminology used in BHI.¹¹ The commonly used terms are coordinated care, co-located care, and integrated care (TABLE 1),^11,12 and they may be best understood as part of a BHI continuum. A combined expert panel of the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) and the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) has developed a conceptual framework defining 6 levels of integrated care spanning the 3 practice structures of coordinated care, co-located care, and integrated care (FIGURE 1).^12,13Reverse co-location is another frequently used term; it refers to primary care providers who work in settings devoted to mental health or chemical dependency treatment.¹¹

COORDINATED CARE AND THE COLLABORATIVE CARE MODEL

BHI at the level of coordinated care has almost exclusively been studied and practiced along the lines of the collaborative care model (CCM).^14-16 This model represents an advanced level of coordinated care in the BHI continuum. The most substantial evidence for CCM lies in the management of depression and anxiety.^14-16

Usual care involves the primary care physician and the patient. CCM adds 2 vital roles—a behavioral health care manager and a psychiatric consultant. A behavioral health care manager is typically a counselor, clinical social worker, psychologist, or psychiatric nurse who performs all care-management tasks including offering psychotherapy when that is part of the treatment plan.

Continue to: The care manager's functions include...

The care manager’s functions include systematic follow-up with structured monitoring of symptoms and treatment adherence, coordination and communication among care providers, patient education, and self-management support, including the use of motivational interviewing. The behavioral health care manager performs this systematic follow up by maintaining a patient “registry”—case-management software used in conjunction with, or embedded in, the practice electronic health record to track patients’ data and clinical outcomes, as well as to facilitate decision-making.

The care manager communicates with the psychiatrist, who offers suggestions for drug therapy, which is prescribed by the primary care physician. The care manager also regularly evaluates the patient’s status using a standardized scale, communicates these scores to the psychiatrist, and transmits any recommendations to the primary care physician (FIGURE 2).¹⁷

EVIDENCE FOR CCM

Collaborative and routine care were compared in a 2012 Cochrane review that included 79 randomized controlled trials (RCTs) involving 24,308 patients worldwide.¹⁶ Seventy-two of the 79 RCTs focused on patients with depression or depression with anxiety, while 6 studies included participants with only anxiety disorders.¹⁶ One additional study focused on mental health quality of life. (To learn about CCM and severe mental illness and substance use disorder, see “Less well studied: CCM and severe mental illness, alcohol dependence.”^18-20)

For adults with depression treated with the CCM, significantly greater improvement in depression outcome measures was seen in the short-term (standardized mean difference [SMD] = -0.34; 95% confidence interval [CI], -0.41 to -0.27; risk ratio [RR] = 1.32; 95% CI, 1.22-1.43), in the medium term (SMD = -0.28; 95% CI, -0.41 to -0.15; RR = 1.31; 95% CI, 1.17–1.48), and in the long term (SMD = -0.35; 95% CI, -0.46 to -0.24; RR = 1.29; 95% CI, 1.18–1.41).¹⁶

Comparisons of mental health quality of life over the short term (0-6 months), medium term (7-12 months), and long term (13-24 months) did not show any significant difference between CCM and routine care.¹⁶ Comparisons of physical health quality of life over the short term and medium term did not show any significant difference between CCM and routine care.¹⁶

Continue to: Significantly greater improvement...

Significantly greater improvement in anxiety outcomes was seen for adults treated with CCM in the short term (SMD = -0.30; 95% CI, -0.44 to -0.17; RR = 1.50; 95% CI, 1.21–1.87), in the medium term (SMD = -0.33; 95% CI, -0.47 to -0.19; RR = 1.41; 95% CI, 1.18-1.69), and in the long term (SMD = -0.20; 95% CI, -0.34 to -0.06; RR = 1.26; 95% CI, 1.11–1.42).¹⁶

A 2016 systematic review of 94 RCTs involving more than 25,000 patients also provided high-quality evidence that collaborative care yields small-to-moderate improvements in symptoms from mood disorders and mental health-related quality of life.¹⁵ A 2006 meta-analysis of 37 RCTs comprising 12,355 patients showed that collaborative care involving a case manager is more effective than standard care in improving depression outcomes at 6 months (SMD = 0.25; 95% CI, 0.18-0.32) and up to 5 years (SMD = 0.15; 95% CI, 0.001-0.31).²¹

Better care of mental health disorders also improves medical outcomes

Several trials have focused on jointly managing depression and a chronic physical condition such as chronic pain, diabetes, and coronary heart disease,²² demonstrating improved outcomes for both depression and the comanaged conditions.

• Chronic pain. When compared with usual care, collaborative care resulted in moderate reductions in both pain severity and associated disability (41.5% vs 17.3%; RR = 2.4; 95% CI, 1.6-3.2).²³
• Diabetes. Patients managed collaboratively were more likely to have a decrease of ≥ 1% in the glycated hemoglobin level from baseline (36% vs 19%; P = .006).²⁴
• Cardiovascular disease. Significant real-world risk reduction was achieved by improving blood pressure control (58% achieved blood pressure control compared with a projected target of 20%).²²

IS THERE A COMMON THREAD AMONG SUCCESSFUL CCMs?

Attempts to identify commonalities between the many iterations of successful CCMs have produced varying results due to differing selections of relevant RCTs.^25-29 However, a few common features have been identified:

• care managers assess symptoms at baseline and at follow-up using a standardized measure such as the Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-9);
• care managers monitor treatment adherence;
• follow-up is active for at least 16 weeks;
• primary care and mental health providers actively engage in patient management; and
• mental health specialists regularly supervise care managers.

The one feature that is consistent with improved outcomes is the presence of the care manager.^25-29

Continue to: The improvement associated...

The improvement associated with collaborative care is clinically meaningful to patients and physicians. In one RCT, collaborative care doubled response rates of depression treatment compared with usual care.³ Quality improvement data from real-world implementation of collaborative care programs suggests that similar outcomes can be achieved in a variety of settings.³⁰

COST BENEFITS OF CCM

Collaborative care for depression is associated with lower health care costs.^29,31

Patients with diabetes managed collaboratively have shown HbA_1c decreases of ≥ 1% from baseline more frequently than usual-care patients.

A meta-analysis of 57 RCTs in 2012 showed that CCM improves depression outcomes across populations, settings, and outcome domains, and that these results are achieved at little to no increase in treatment costs compared with usual care (Cohen’s d = 0.05; 95% CI, –0.02–0.12).²⁶

When collaborative care was compared with routine care in an RCT involving 1801 primary care patients ≥ 60 years who were suffering from depression, a cost saving of $3363 per patient over 4 years was demonstrated in the intervention arm.³¹

A technical analysis of 94 RCTs in 2015 concluded that CCM is cost effective compared with usual care, with a range of $15,000 to $80,000 per quality-adjusted life year gained. These studies also indicated that organizations’ costs to implement CCM increase in the short term. Based on this analysis, organizations would need to invest between $3 to $22 per patient per month to implement and sustain CCMs, depending on the prevalence of depression in the population.²⁹

Continue to: OTHER MODELS OF BHI

Higher levels of BHI such as co-location and integration do not have the same quality of evidence as CCM.

A 2009 Cochrane review of 42 studies involving 3880 patients found that mental health workers delivering psychological therapy and psychosocial interventions in primary care settings brought about significant reductions in primary care physician consultations (SMD = ‐0.17; 95% CI, ‐0.30 to ‐0.05); a relative risk reduction of 23% in psychotropic prescribing (RR = 0.67; 95% CI, 0.56–0.79); a decrease in prescribing costs (SMD = ‐0.22; 95% CI, ‐0.38 to ‐0.07); and a relative risk reduction in mental health referral of 87% (RR = 0.13; 95% CI, 0.09–0.20) for the patients they were seeing.³² The authors concluded the changes were modest in magnitude and inconsistent across different studies.³²

Collaborative care has improved depression outcomes at little to no increase in treatment costs compared with usual care.

Embedding medical providers in behavior health centers—ie, the reverse co-location model—also has very limited evidence. An RCT involving 120 veterans found that patients enrolled in a reverse co-location clinic did significantly better than controls seen in a general care clinic in terms of continuity of care and preventive care such as screening for hypertension (84.7% vs 65.6%; X ² = 5.9, P = .01), diabetes (71.2% vs 45.9%; X ² = 7.9, P < .005), hepatitis (39% vs 14.8%; X ² = 9, P = .003), and cholesterol (79.7% vs 57.4%; X ² = 6.9, P = .009).³³

HOW TO IMPLEMENT A SUCCESSFUL BHI PROGRAM

A demonstration and evaluation project involving 11 diverse practices in Colorado explored ways to integrate behavioral health in primary care. Five main themes emerged^34,35:

• Frame integrated care as a necessary paradigm shift to patient-centered, whole-person health care.
• Define relationships and protocols up front, understanding that they will evolve.
• Build inclusive, empowered teams to provide the foundation for integration.
• Develop a change management strategy of continuous evaluation and course correction.
• Use targeted data collection pertinent to integrated care to drive improvement and impart accountability.

The one feature that is consistent with improved outcomes is the presence of a care manager.

The Institute for Clinical and Economic Review has organized an extensive list of resources³⁶ for implementing BHI models, a sampling of which is shown in TABLE 2.

Continue to: TAKE-AWAY POINTS

There is high quality evidence that collaborative care works for the management of depression and anxiety disorder in primary care, and this is associated with significant cost savings. The one feature consistent in most successful BHI models is the care manager. More research is needed to identify which model of BHI works best for patients with SMI and substance use disorders. BHI cannot be accomplished by a few small changes to traditional care but requires a fundamental rethinking of care practices.

CORRESPONDENCE
Rajesh (FNU) Rajesh, MD, Main Campus Family Medicine Clinic, MetroHealth, 2500 MetroHealth Drive, Cleveland, OH 44109; frajesh@metrohealth.org

In a typical primary care practice, detecting and managing mental health problems competes with other priorities such as treating acute physical illness, monitoring chronic disease, providing preventive health services, and assessing compliance with standards of care.¹ These competing demands for a primary care provider’s time, paired with limited mental health resources in the community, may result in suboptimal behavioral health care.^1-3 Even when referrals are made to mental health care providers, depression is adequately treated only 20% of the time.^2,3 Additionally, individuals with serious mental illness and substance use disorders often do not receive adequate general medical care.^4,5

Approximately 30% of adults with physical disorders also have one or more behavioral health conditions, such as anxiety, panic, mood, or substance use disorders.⁶ Although physical and behavioral health conditions are inextricably linked, their assessment and treatment get separated into different silos.⁷ Given that fewer than 20% of depressed patients are seen by a psychiatrist or psychologist,⁸ the responsibility of providing mental health care often falls on the primary care physician.^8,9

Efforts to improve the treatment of common mental disorders in primary care have traditionally focused on screening for these disorders, educating primary care providers, developing treatment guidelines, and referring patients to mental health specialty care.¹⁰ However, behavioral health integration offers another way forward.

WHAT IS BEHAVIORAL HEALTH INTEGRATION?

Behavioral health integration (BHI) in primary care refers to primary care physicians and behavioral health clinicians working in concert with patients to address their primary care and behavioral health needs.¹¹

Numerous overlapping terms have been used to describe BHI, and this has caused some confusion. In 2013, the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) issued a lexicon standardizing the terminology used in BHI.¹¹ The commonly used terms are coordinated care, co-located care, and integrated care (TABLE 1),^11,12 and they may be best understood as part of a BHI continuum. A combined expert panel of the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) and the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) has developed a conceptual framework defining 6 levels of integrated care spanning the 3 practice structures of coordinated care, co-located care, and integrated care (FIGURE 1).^12,13Reverse co-location is another frequently used term; it refers to primary care providers who work in settings devoted to mental health or chemical dependency treatment.¹¹

COORDINATED CARE AND THE COLLABORATIVE CARE MODEL

BHI at the level of coordinated care has almost exclusively been studied and practiced along the lines of the collaborative care model (CCM).^14-16 This model represents an advanced level of coordinated care in the BHI continuum. The most substantial evidence for CCM lies in the management of depression and anxiety.^14-16

Usual care involves the primary care physician and the patient. CCM adds 2 vital roles—a behavioral health care manager and a psychiatric consultant. A behavioral health care manager is typically a counselor, clinical social worker, psychologist, or psychiatric nurse who performs all care-management tasks including offering psychotherapy when that is part of the treatment plan.

Continue to: The care manager's functions include...

The care manager’s functions include systematic follow-up with structured monitoring of symptoms and treatment adherence, coordination and communication among care providers, patient education, and self-management support, including the use of motivational interviewing. The behavioral health care manager performs this systematic follow up by maintaining a patient “registry”—case-management software used in conjunction with, or embedded in, the practice electronic health record to track patients’ data and clinical outcomes, as well as to facilitate decision-making.

The care manager communicates with the psychiatrist, who offers suggestions for drug therapy, which is prescribed by the primary care physician. The care manager also regularly evaluates the patient’s status using a standardized scale, communicates these scores to the psychiatrist, and transmits any recommendations to the primary care physician (FIGURE 2).¹⁷

EVIDENCE FOR CCM

Collaborative and routine care were compared in a 2012 Cochrane review that included 79 randomized controlled trials (RCTs) involving 24,308 patients worldwide.¹⁶ Seventy-two of the 79 RCTs focused on patients with depression or depression with anxiety, while 6 studies included participants with only anxiety disorders.¹⁶ One additional study focused on mental health quality of life. (To learn about CCM and severe mental illness and substance use disorder, see “Less well studied: CCM and severe mental illness, alcohol dependence.”^18-20)

For adults with depression treated with the CCM, significantly greater improvement in depression outcome measures was seen in the short-term (standardized mean difference [SMD] = -0.34; 95% confidence interval [CI], -0.41 to -0.27; risk ratio [RR] = 1.32; 95% CI, 1.22-1.43), in the medium term (SMD = -0.28; 95% CI, -0.41 to -0.15; RR = 1.31; 95% CI, 1.17–1.48), and in the long term (SMD = -0.35; 95% CI, -0.46 to -0.24; RR = 1.29; 95% CI, 1.18–1.41).¹⁶

Comparisons of mental health quality of life over the short term (0-6 months), medium term (7-12 months), and long term (13-24 months) did not show any significant difference between CCM and routine care.¹⁶ Comparisons of physical health quality of life over the short term and medium term did not show any significant difference between CCM and routine care.¹⁶

Continue to: Significantly greater improvement...

Significantly greater improvement in anxiety outcomes was seen for adults treated with CCM in the short term (SMD = -0.30; 95% CI, -0.44 to -0.17; RR = 1.50; 95% CI, 1.21–1.87), in the medium term (SMD = -0.33; 95% CI, -0.47 to -0.19; RR = 1.41; 95% CI, 1.18-1.69), and in the long term (SMD = -0.20; 95% CI, -0.34 to -0.06; RR = 1.26; 95% CI, 1.11–1.42).¹⁶

A 2016 systematic review of 94 RCTs involving more than 25,000 patients also provided high-quality evidence that collaborative care yields small-to-moderate improvements in symptoms from mood disorders and mental health-related quality of life.¹⁵ A 2006 meta-analysis of 37 RCTs comprising 12,355 patients showed that collaborative care involving a case manager is more effective than standard care in improving depression outcomes at 6 months (SMD = 0.25; 95% CI, 0.18-0.32) and up to 5 years (SMD = 0.15; 95% CI, 0.001-0.31).²¹

Better care of mental health disorders also improves medical outcomes

Several trials have focused on jointly managing depression and a chronic physical condition such as chronic pain, diabetes, and coronary heart disease,²² demonstrating improved outcomes for both depression and the comanaged conditions.

• Chronic pain. When compared with usual care, collaborative care resulted in moderate reductions in both pain severity and associated disability (41.5% vs 17.3%; RR = 2.4; 95% CI, 1.6-3.2).²³
• Diabetes. Patients managed collaboratively were more likely to have a decrease of ≥ 1% in the glycated hemoglobin level from baseline (36% vs 19%; P = .006).²⁴
• Cardiovascular disease. Significant real-world risk reduction was achieved by improving blood pressure control (58% achieved blood pressure control compared with a projected target of 20%).²²

IS THERE A COMMON THREAD AMONG SUCCESSFUL CCMs?

Attempts to identify commonalities between the many iterations of successful CCMs have produced varying results due to differing selections of relevant RCTs.^25-29 However, a few common features have been identified:

• care managers assess symptoms at baseline and at follow-up using a standardized measure such as the Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-9);
• care managers monitor treatment adherence;
• follow-up is active for at least 16 weeks;
• primary care and mental health providers actively engage in patient management; and
• mental health specialists regularly supervise care managers.

The one feature that is consistent with improved outcomes is the presence of the care manager.^25-29

Continue to: The improvement associated...

The improvement associated with collaborative care is clinically meaningful to patients and physicians. In one RCT, collaborative care doubled response rates of depression treatment compared with usual care.³ Quality improvement data from real-world implementation of collaborative care programs suggests that similar outcomes can be achieved in a variety of settings.³⁰

COST BENEFITS OF CCM

Collaborative care for depression is associated with lower health care costs.^29,31

Patients with diabetes managed collaboratively have shown HbA_1c decreases of ≥ 1% from baseline more frequently than usual-care patients.

A meta-analysis of 57 RCTs in 2012 showed that CCM improves depression outcomes across populations, settings, and outcome domains, and that these results are achieved at little to no increase in treatment costs compared with usual care (Cohen’s d = 0.05; 95% CI, –0.02–0.12).²⁶

When collaborative care was compared with routine care in an RCT involving 1801 primary care patients ≥ 60 years who were suffering from depression, a cost saving of $3363 per patient over 4 years was demonstrated in the intervention arm.³¹

A technical analysis of 94 RCTs in 2015 concluded that CCM is cost effective compared with usual care, with a range of $15,000 to $80,000 per quality-adjusted life year gained. These studies also indicated that organizations’ costs to implement CCM increase in the short term. Based on this analysis, organizations would need to invest between $3 to $22 per patient per month to implement and sustain CCMs, depending on the prevalence of depression in the population.²⁹

Continue to: OTHER MODELS OF BHI

Higher levels of BHI such as co-location and integration do not have the same quality of evidence as CCM.

A 2009 Cochrane review of 42 studies involving 3880 patients found that mental health workers delivering psychological therapy and psychosocial interventions in primary care settings brought about significant reductions in primary care physician consultations (SMD = ‐0.17; 95% CI, ‐0.30 to ‐0.05); a relative risk reduction of 23% in psychotropic prescribing (RR = 0.67; 95% CI, 0.56–0.79); a decrease in prescribing costs (SMD = ‐0.22; 95% CI, ‐0.38 to ‐0.07); and a relative risk reduction in mental health referral of 87% (RR = 0.13; 95% CI, 0.09–0.20) for the patients they were seeing.³² The authors concluded the changes were modest in magnitude and inconsistent across different studies.³²

Collaborative care has improved depression outcomes at little to no increase in treatment costs compared with usual care.

Embedding medical providers in behavior health centers—ie, the reverse co-location model—also has very limited evidence. An RCT involving 120 veterans found that patients enrolled in a reverse co-location clinic did significantly better than controls seen in a general care clinic in terms of continuity of care and preventive care such as screening for hypertension (84.7% vs 65.6%; X ² = 5.9, P = .01), diabetes (71.2% vs 45.9%; X ² = 7.9, P < .005), hepatitis (39% vs 14.8%; X ² = 9, P = .003), and cholesterol (79.7% vs 57.4%; X ² = 6.9, P = .009).³³

HOW TO IMPLEMENT A SUCCESSFUL BHI PROGRAM

A demonstration and evaluation project involving 11 diverse practices in Colorado explored ways to integrate behavioral health in primary care. Five main themes emerged^34,35:

• Frame integrated care as a necessary paradigm shift to patient-centered, whole-person health care.
• Define relationships and protocols up front, understanding that they will evolve.
• Build inclusive, empowered teams to provide the foundation for integration.
• Develop a change management strategy of continuous evaluation and course correction.
• Use targeted data collection pertinent to integrated care to drive improvement and impart accountability.

The one feature that is consistent with improved outcomes is the presence of a care manager.

The Institute for Clinical and Economic Review has organized an extensive list of resources³⁶ for implementing BHI models, a sampling of which is shown in TABLE 2.

Continue to: TAKE-AWAY POINTS

There is high quality evidence that collaborative care works for the management of depression and anxiety disorder in primary care, and this is associated with significant cost savings. The one feature consistent in most successful BHI models is the care manager. More research is needed to identify which model of BHI works best for patients with SMI and substance use disorders. BHI cannot be accomplished by a few small changes to traditional care but requires a fundamental rethinking of care practices.

CORRESPONDENCE
Rajesh (FNU) Rajesh, MD, Main Campus Family Medicine Clinic, MetroHealth, 2500 MetroHealth Drive, Cleveland, OH 44109; frajesh@metrohealth.org

In a typical primary care practice, detecting and managing mental health problems competes with other priorities such as treating acute physical illness, monitoring chronic disease, providing preventive health services, and assessing compliance with standards of care.¹ These competing demands for a primary care provider’s time, paired with limited mental health resources in the community, may result in suboptimal behavioral health care.^1-3 Even when referrals are made to mental health care providers, depression is adequately treated only 20% of the time.^2,3 Additionally, individuals with serious mental illness and substance use disorders often do not receive adequate general medical care.^4,5

Approximately 30% of adults with physical disorders also have one or more behavioral health conditions, such as anxiety, panic, mood, or substance use disorders.⁶ Although physical and behavioral health conditions are inextricably linked, their assessment and treatment get separated into different silos.⁷ Given that fewer than 20% of depressed patients are seen by a psychiatrist or psychologist,⁸ the responsibility of providing mental health care often falls on the primary care physician.^8,9

Efforts to improve the treatment of common mental disorders in primary care have traditionally focused on screening for these disorders, educating primary care providers, developing treatment guidelines, and referring patients to mental health specialty care.¹⁰ However, behavioral health integration offers another way forward.

WHAT IS BEHAVIORAL HEALTH INTEGRATION?

Behavioral health integration (BHI) in primary care refers to primary care physicians and behavioral health clinicians working in concert with patients to address their primary care and behavioral health needs.¹¹

Numerous overlapping terms have been used to describe BHI, and this has caused some confusion. In 2013, the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) issued a lexicon standardizing the terminology used in BHI.¹¹ The commonly used terms are coordinated care, co-located care, and integrated care (TABLE 1),^11,12 and they may be best understood as part of a BHI continuum. A combined expert panel of the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) and the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) has developed a conceptual framework defining 6 levels of integrated care spanning the 3 practice structures of coordinated care, co-located care, and integrated care (FIGURE 1).^12,13Reverse co-location is another frequently used term; it refers to primary care providers who work in settings devoted to mental health or chemical dependency treatment.¹¹

COORDINATED CARE AND THE COLLABORATIVE CARE MODEL

BHI at the level of coordinated care has almost exclusively been studied and practiced along the lines of the collaborative care model (CCM).^14-16 This model represents an advanced level of coordinated care in the BHI continuum. The most substantial evidence for CCM lies in the management of depression and anxiety.^14-16

Usual care involves the primary care physician and the patient. CCM adds 2 vital roles—a behavioral health care manager and a psychiatric consultant. A behavioral health care manager is typically a counselor, clinical social worker, psychologist, or psychiatric nurse who performs all care-management tasks including offering psychotherapy when that is part of the treatment plan.

Continue to: The care manager's functions include...

The care manager’s functions include systematic follow-up with structured monitoring of symptoms and treatment adherence, coordination and communication among care providers, patient education, and self-management support, including the use of motivational interviewing. The behavioral health care manager performs this systematic follow up by maintaining a patient “registry”—case-management software used in conjunction with, or embedded in, the practice electronic health record to track patients’ data and clinical outcomes, as well as to facilitate decision-making.

The care manager communicates with the psychiatrist, who offers suggestions for drug therapy, which is prescribed by the primary care physician. The care manager also regularly evaluates the patient’s status using a standardized scale, communicates these scores to the psychiatrist, and transmits any recommendations to the primary care physician (FIGURE 2).¹⁷

EVIDENCE FOR CCM

Collaborative and routine care were compared in a 2012 Cochrane review that included 79 randomized controlled trials (RCTs) involving 24,308 patients worldwide.¹⁶ Seventy-two of the 79 RCTs focused on patients with depression or depression with anxiety, while 6 studies included participants with only anxiety disorders.¹⁶ One additional study focused on mental health quality of life. (To learn about CCM and severe mental illness and substance use disorder, see “Less well studied: CCM and severe mental illness, alcohol dependence.”^18-20)

For adults with depression treated with the CCM, significantly greater improvement in depression outcome measures was seen in the short-term (standardized mean difference [SMD] = -0.34; 95% confidence interval [CI], -0.41 to -0.27; risk ratio [RR] = 1.32; 95% CI, 1.22-1.43), in the medium term (SMD = -0.28; 95% CI, -0.41 to -0.15; RR = 1.31; 95% CI, 1.17–1.48), and in the long term (SMD = -0.35; 95% CI, -0.46 to -0.24; RR = 1.29; 95% CI, 1.18–1.41).¹⁶

Comparisons of mental health quality of life over the short term (0-6 months), medium term (7-12 months), and long term (13-24 months) did not show any significant difference between CCM and routine care.¹⁶ Comparisons of physical health quality of life over the short term and medium term did not show any significant difference between CCM and routine care.¹⁶

Continue to: Significantly greater improvement...

Significantly greater improvement in anxiety outcomes was seen for adults treated with CCM in the short term (SMD = -0.30; 95% CI, -0.44 to -0.17; RR = 1.50; 95% CI, 1.21–1.87), in the medium term (SMD = -0.33; 95% CI, -0.47 to -0.19; RR = 1.41; 95% CI, 1.18-1.69), and in the long term (SMD = -0.20; 95% CI, -0.34 to -0.06; RR = 1.26; 95% CI, 1.11–1.42).¹⁶

A 2016 systematic review of 94 RCTs involving more than 25,000 patients also provided high-quality evidence that collaborative care yields small-to-moderate improvements in symptoms from mood disorders and mental health-related quality of life.¹⁵ A 2006 meta-analysis of 37 RCTs comprising 12,355 patients showed that collaborative care involving a case manager is more effective than standard care in improving depression outcomes at 6 months (SMD = 0.25; 95% CI, 0.18-0.32) and up to 5 years (SMD = 0.15; 95% CI, 0.001-0.31).²¹

Better care of mental health disorders also improves medical outcomes

Several trials have focused on jointly managing depression and a chronic physical condition such as chronic pain, diabetes, and coronary heart disease,²² demonstrating improved outcomes for both depression and the comanaged conditions.

• Chronic pain. When compared with usual care, collaborative care resulted in moderate reductions in both pain severity and associated disability (41.5% vs 17.3%; RR = 2.4; 95% CI, 1.6-3.2).²³
• Diabetes. Patients managed collaboratively were more likely to have a decrease of ≥ 1% in the glycated hemoglobin level from baseline (36% vs 19%; P = .006).²⁴
• Cardiovascular disease. Significant real-world risk reduction was achieved by improving blood pressure control (58% achieved blood pressure control compared with a projected target of 20%).²²

IS THERE A COMMON THREAD AMONG SUCCESSFUL CCMs?

Attempts to identify commonalities between the many iterations of successful CCMs have produced varying results due to differing selections of relevant RCTs.^25-29 However, a few common features have been identified:

• care managers assess symptoms at baseline and at follow-up using a standardized measure such as the Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-9);
• care managers monitor treatment adherence;
• follow-up is active for at least 16 weeks;
• primary care and mental health providers actively engage in patient management; and
• mental health specialists regularly supervise care managers.

The one feature that is consistent with improved outcomes is the presence of the care manager.^25-29

Continue to: The improvement associated...

The improvement associated with collaborative care is clinically meaningful to patients and physicians. In one RCT, collaborative care doubled response rates of depression treatment compared with usual care.³ Quality improvement data from real-world implementation of collaborative care programs suggests that similar outcomes can be achieved in a variety of settings.³⁰

COST BENEFITS OF CCM

Collaborative care for depression is associated with lower health care costs.^29,31

Patients with diabetes managed collaboratively have shown HbA_1c decreases of ≥ 1% from baseline more frequently than usual-care patients.

A meta-analysis of 57 RCTs in 2012 showed that CCM improves depression outcomes across populations, settings, and outcome domains, and that these results are achieved at little to no increase in treatment costs compared with usual care (Cohen’s d = 0.05; 95% CI, –0.02–0.12).²⁶

When collaborative care was compared with routine care in an RCT involving 1801 primary care patients ≥ 60 years who were suffering from depression, a cost saving of $3363 per patient over 4 years was demonstrated in the intervention arm.³¹

A technical analysis of 94 RCTs in 2015 concluded that CCM is cost effective compared with usual care, with a range of $15,000 to $80,000 per quality-adjusted life year gained. These studies also indicated that organizations’ costs to implement CCM increase in the short term. Based on this analysis, organizations would need to invest between $3 to $22 per patient per month to implement and sustain CCMs, depending on the prevalence of depression in the population.²⁹

Continue to: OTHER MODELS OF BHI

Higher levels of BHI such as co-location and integration do not have the same quality of evidence as CCM.

A 2009 Cochrane review of 42 studies involving 3880 patients found that mental health workers delivering psychological therapy and psychosocial interventions in primary care settings brought about significant reductions in primary care physician consultations (SMD = ‐0.17; 95% CI, ‐0.30 to ‐0.05); a relative risk reduction of 23% in psychotropic prescribing (RR = 0.67; 95% CI, 0.56–0.79); a decrease in prescribing costs (SMD = ‐0.22; 95% CI, ‐0.38 to ‐0.07); and a relative risk reduction in mental health referral of 87% (RR = 0.13; 95% CI, 0.09–0.20) for the patients they were seeing.³² The authors concluded the changes were modest in magnitude and inconsistent across different studies.³²

Collaborative care has improved depression outcomes at little to no increase in treatment costs compared with usual care.

Embedding medical providers in behavior health centers—ie, the reverse co-location model—also has very limited evidence. An RCT involving 120 veterans found that patients enrolled in a reverse co-location clinic did significantly better than controls seen in a general care clinic in terms of continuity of care and preventive care such as screening for hypertension (84.7% vs 65.6%; X ² = 5.9, P = .01), diabetes (71.2% vs 45.9%; X ² = 7.9, P < .005), hepatitis (39% vs 14.8%; X ² = 9, P = .003), and cholesterol (79.7% vs 57.4%; X ² = 6.9, P = .009).³³

HOW TO IMPLEMENT A SUCCESSFUL BHI PROGRAM

A demonstration and evaluation project involving 11 diverse practices in Colorado explored ways to integrate behavioral health in primary care. Five main themes emerged^34,35:

• Frame integrated care as a necessary paradigm shift to patient-centered, whole-person health care.
• Define relationships and protocols up front, understanding that they will evolve.
• Build inclusive, empowered teams to provide the foundation for integration.
• Develop a change management strategy of continuous evaluation and course correction.
• Use targeted data collection pertinent to integrated care to drive improvement and impart accountability.

The one feature that is consistent with improved outcomes is the presence of a care manager.

The Institute for Clinical and Economic Review has organized an extensive list of resources³⁶ for implementing BHI models, a sampling of which is shown in TABLE 2.

Continue to: TAKE-AWAY POINTS

There is high quality evidence that collaborative care works for the management of depression and anxiety disorder in primary care, and this is associated with significant cost savings. The one feature consistent in most successful BHI models is the care manager. More research is needed to identify which model of BHI works best for patients with SMI and substance use disorders. BHI cannot be accomplished by a few small changes to traditional care but requires a fundamental rethinking of care practices.

CORRESPONDENCE
Rajesh (FNU) Rajesh, MD, Main Campus Family Medicine Clinic, MetroHealth, 2500 MetroHealth Drive, Cleveland, OH 44109; frajesh@metrohealth.org

THE CASE

Julia* is a 31-year-old woman, gravida 3 para 3, who presents to your office for evaluation after a recent emergency department (ED) visit. Her husband and children are with her. She is 4 months postpartum after an uncomplicated normal spontaneous vaginal delivery. She is breastfeeding her healthy baby boy and is using an intrauterine device for birth control. She went to the ED last week after “choking on a chip” while having lunch with her children. It felt like she “couldn’t breathe.” She called 911 herself. The ED evaluation was unremarkable. Her discharge diagnosis was “panic attack,” and she was sent home with a prescription for lorazepam.

Since the incident, she has been unable to eat any solid foods and has lost 7 pounds. She also reports a globus sensation, extreme fear of swallowing, insomnia, and pervasive thoughts that she could die at any moment and leave her children motherless. She has not taken the lorazepam.

She has a history of self-reported anxiety dating back to high school but no history of panic attacks. She has never been diagnosed with an anxiety disorder and has never before been prescribed anti-anxiety medication. She doesn’t have a history of postpartum depression in prior pregnancies, and a depression screening at her postpartum visit 2 months ago was negative.

● How would you proceed with this patient?

*The patient’s name has been changed to protect her identity.

During the perinatal period, women are particularly vulnerable to affective disorders, and primary care physicians are encouraged to routinely screen for and treat depression in pregnant and postpartum women.¹ However, anxiety disorders have a higher incidence than mood disorders in the general population,² and perinatal anxiety may be more widely underrecognized and undertreated than depression.³ In addition, higher depression scores early in pregnancy have been shown to predict higher anxiety later in pregnancy.⁴

As family physicians, we are well-trained to recognize and treat anxiety disorders in the general patient population; however, we may lack the awareness and tools to identify these conditions in the perinatal period. Given our frequent encounters with both mom and baby in a child’s first year of life, we are uniquely positioned to promptly recognize, diagnose, and treat postpartum anxiety and thereby improve health outcomes for families.

DEFINING PERINATAL ANXIETY

Anxiety disorders (including generalized anxiety disorder, panic, phobia, and social anxiety) are the most common mental health disorders evaluated and treated in the primary care setting, with a lifetime prevalence of close to 30%.²

Continue to: A recent report from...

A recent report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) estimates that 1 in 9 women experience symptoms of postpartum depression.⁵ The prevalence of anxiety disorders during pregnancy and the early postpartum period is not as well-known, but studies suggest that perinatal anxiety is much more prevalent than depression. In one study, generalized anxiety disorder (GAD) in the pre- and postnatal periods was 15.8% and 17.1%, respectively; an incidence far exceeding that of perinatal depression (3.9% and 4.8%, for the same periods).⁶ Additional evidence suggests that even more women in the postnatal period experience clinically significant levels of anxiety but do not meet full diagnostic criteria for an anxiety disorder.⁷

Consider screening for postpartum anxiety with the GAD-7 or the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale (questions 3-5).

In another study, 9.5% of women met criteria for GAD at some point during pregnancy, with highest anxiety levels in the first trimester.⁸ Women with a history of GAD, lower education, lack of social support, and personal history of child abuse have the highest risk for postpartum anxiety. Women with a history of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) may be twice as likely to develop postpartum anxiety as healthy women.⁹

It has been well-documented that sleep disruption—which is very common in new mothers in the postnatal period—contributes to mood and anxiety disorders.^10,11

Clarifying a diagnosis of postpartum anxiety

The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, 5th edition (DSM-5)¹² specifies no diagnosis of postpartum anxiety disorder. And no standardized diagnostic criteria exist. It is likely that in some cases, postpartum anxiety represents an exacerbation of underlying GAD, and in other cases it is a situational disorder brought about by specific circumstances of the peripartum period.

The DSM-5 does, however, provide a helpful diagnostic approach. It defines a diagnosis of postpartum depression as being a variant of major depressive disorder (MDD) in which a woman must 1) meet criteria for a major depressive episode; and 2) occur during pregnancy or within 4 weeks of delivery. In practice, many clinicians extend the second requirement to include the first year postpartum.¹³ There is a “with anxious distress” specifier for major depression in the DSM-5, but the 2 disorders are otherwise unlinked.

Continue to: To apply the...

To apply the DSM-5 principles for postpartum depression to postpartum anxiety, a patient would need to 1) meet the diagnostic criteria for an anxiety disorder that 2) have their onset within a specified perinatal period. Variant presentations of anxiety in the postpartum period might include panic disorder and phobias, which could also interfere with a woman’s ability to care for her child.

The DSM-5 offers the following criteria for GAD¹²:

• excessive worry about a variety of topics
• worry that is experienced as hard to control
• worry associated with at least 3 physical or cognitive symptoms: edginess/restlessness, tiring easily, impaired concentration, irritability
• anxiety, worry, or associated symptoms that make it hard to carry out day-to-day activities and responsibilities
• symptoms that are unrelated to any other medical conditions and cannot be explained by the effect of substances including a prescription medication, alcohol, or recreational drugs
• symptoms that are not better explained by a different mental disorder.

Debilitating effects of postpartum anxiety

Many women experience some level of anxiety during pregnancy and early postpartum—anxiety that may range from normal and adaptive to debilitating.¹⁴ While the challenges of caring for a newborn are likely to bring some level of anxiety, these symptoms should be transient and not interfere with a woman’s capacity to care for her infant, herself, or her family.

Postpartum anxiety has been associated with a prior fear of giving birth, fear of death (of both mother and baby), lack of control, lack of self-confidence, and lack of confidence in the medical system.⁹ The experience of such ongoing disturbing thoughts or feelings of worry and tension that affect a woman’s ability to manage from day to day should indicate an illness state that deserves medical attention.

Consider diagnosing postpartum anxiety when DSM-5 criteria for generalized anxiety disorder are met during the first year postpartum.

Mothers with postpartum anxiety disorders report significantly less bonding with their infants than do mothers without anxiety.¹⁵ A recent narrative review describes numerous studies that illustrate the negative effects of postpartum anxiety on bonding, breastfeeding, infant temperament, early childhood development, and conduct disorders.¹⁶ Anxious women may be less likely to initiate breastfeeding, have more challenges with breastfeeding, and even have a different milk composition.¹⁷ Women with prenatal anxiety are also more likely to stop breastfeeding prematurely.¹⁸ Children of anxious mothers may be more likely to have a difficult temperament and to display more distress.¹⁹ There are small studies demonstrating deficits in early infant development and increases in conduct disorder in the male offspring of anxious women.²⁰

Continue to: SCREENING FOR POSTPARTUM ANXIETY

SCREENING FOR POSTPARTUM ANXIETY

Screening for perinatal depression has become standard of care, and the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale (EPDS) is a widely used instrument.¹ The EPDS, a 10-question self-report scale, was created and validated to screen for perinatal depression, with a cutoff of > 10/30 usually considered a positive result.

Researchers have investigated the utility of the EPDS as a screening tool for perinatal anxiety as well.^21-23 These studies show some promise, but there are questions as to whether a total score or a subscale score of the EPDS is most accurate in detecting anxiety. Women with perinatal anxiety may score low on the total EPDS, yet score higher on 3 anxiety-specific questions (TABLE 1²³). For this reason, several studies propose an EPDS anxiety subscore or subscale (referred to as EPDS-3A).

Of note, there are some women who will score high on the subscale who do not ultimately meet the criteria for an anxiety disorder diagnosis. Clinicians should not over-interpret these scores and should always use sound clinical judgment when making a diagnosis.

Research has also focused on using the GAD 7-item (GAD-7) scale (TABLE 2²⁴),²⁵ and on the development of new tools and screening tools designed specifically for perinatal anxiety, including the Postpartum Worry Scale²⁶ and the Postpartum Specific Anxiety Scale (PSAS).²⁷

Family physicians may consider using the EPDS subscale if they are already using the EPDS, or adding the GAD-7 as a separate screening instrument during a postpartum visit. To date there is no one standard recommendation or screening tool.

Continue to: NONPHARMACOLOGIC TREATMENT

As one would with any patient who has situational anxiety, help new mothers find ways to increase their coping skills, reduce stress, and mobilize social supports and family resources. Given the association between sleep disruption and perinatal anxiety, counsel new mothers, especially those at high risk for postpartum anxiety, to prioritize sleep during this vulnerable time. To that end, consider recommending that they ask partners, family members, or friends to help them take care of the infant at night (or during the day). Such nonmedical interventions may be sufficient for women with mild anxiety.

Very few studies have addressed nonpharmacologic management of postpartum anxiety, but cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) has been shown to help in managing and treating anxiety disorders outside of pregnancy.²⁸ A few small studies indicate promise for CBT and for mindfulness-based interventions (MBIs) during pregnancy.²⁹

A 2016 systematic review of pharmacologic and nonpharmacologic treatment of anxiety in the perinatal period found support for the use of CBT for panic disorder and specific phobias both in pregnancy and postpartum.³⁰ A very small study found that teaching mothers to massage their preterm infants decreased maternal anxiety.³¹

If the patient is amenable, it is reasonable to start with behavioral interventions like CBT or MBI before pharmacologic treatment—particularly when physicians have mental health professionals embedded in their primary care team.

PHARMACOLOGIC TREATMENT

Selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) and serotonin norepinephrine reuptake inhibitors (SNRIs) are considered first-line treatment for moderate to severe anxiety disorders in the perinatal and postnatal period.

Continue to: SSRIs in pregnancy

SSRIs in pregnancy. Lacking support of randomized controlled trials, most recommendations regarding SSRIs in pregnancy come from expert consensus or cohort and case control studies. Studies have raised concerns for an increased rate of congenital heart defects among fetuses exposed to paroxetine³² and primary pulmonary hypertension with all SSRIs.³³ But the absolute risks are quite small. There have also been concerns regarding low birth weight and preterm birth, but it is possible that these outcomes result from the depression itself rather than the medication.³⁴

Many experts believe that not treating anxiety/ depression is more harmful than the fetal effects of SSRIs.

Unfortunately, there are very few studies evaluating the efficacy of SSRIs in treating postpartum depression³⁵ and even fewer that specifically evaluate their effect on perinatal anxiety. Many experts believe that not treating anxiety/depression is actually more harmful than the fetal effects of SSRIs, and that SSRIs are largely safe in both pregnancy and while breastfeeding, with benefits outweighing the risks.

SSRIs while breastfeeding. SSRIs have been found to be present in varying levels in breastmilk but may or may not be present in the serum of nursing infants.³⁶ A 2008 guideline from the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists lists paroxetine, sertraline, and fluvoxamine as slightly safer than fluoxetine, escitalopram, and citalopram.³⁷ A 2015 systematic review similarly concluded that sertraline and paroxetine have the most safety data on lactation.³⁸ Lowest effective dose is always recommended to minimize exposure.

Benzodiazepines. As in the general population, benzodiazepines should be reserved for short-term use in acute anxiety and panic because they are associated with such adverse effects as worsening of depression/anxiety and risk of dependence and overdose. Longer-acting benzodiazepines (eg, clonazepam) are generally not recommended in lactation because of reported effects on infants, including sedation. Shorter-acting benzodiazepines (eg, lorazepam) are considered safer in lactation.³⁹

THE CASE

Julia saw her family physician 4 more times, was evaluated by an ear-nose-and-throat specialist for her throat complaints, saw a therapist for CBT and a psychiatrist for medication, had 3 more ED visits, and lost 23 pounds before she finally agreed to start an SSRI for postpartum anxiety. She screened high on the EPDS-3A (9/9) despite scoring low on the full EPDS for perinatal depression (total, 9/30).

Continue to: Because of her swallowing impediments...

Because of her swallowing impediments and because she was breastfeeding, sertraline solution was started at very small doses. It was titrated weekly to obtain therapeutic levels. By 4 weeks, her weight stabilized. By 8 weeks, she started gaining weight and sleeping better. She saw the therapist regularly to continue CBT techniques. Over the next several months she started eating a normal diet. She is currently maintained on her SSRI, is still breastfeeding, and has achieved insight into her perinatal anxiety disorder.

CORRESPONDENCE
Veronica Jordan, MD, 3569 Round Barn Cir #200, Santa Rosa, CA 95403; veronica.a.jordan@gmail.com.

THE CASE

Julia* is a 31-year-old woman, gravida 3 para 3, who presents to your office for evaluation after a recent emergency department (ED) visit. Her husband and children are with her. She is 4 months postpartum after an uncomplicated normal spontaneous vaginal delivery. She is breastfeeding her healthy baby boy and is using an intrauterine device for birth control. She went to the ED last week after “choking on a chip” while having lunch with her children. It felt like she “couldn’t breathe.” She called 911 herself. The ED evaluation was unremarkable. Her discharge diagnosis was “panic attack,” and she was sent home with a prescription for lorazepam.

Since the incident, she has been unable to eat any solid foods and has lost 7 pounds. She also reports a globus sensation, extreme fear of swallowing, insomnia, and pervasive thoughts that she could die at any moment and leave her children motherless. She has not taken the lorazepam.

She has a history of self-reported anxiety dating back to high school but no history of panic attacks. She has never been diagnosed with an anxiety disorder and has never before been prescribed anti-anxiety medication. She doesn’t have a history of postpartum depression in prior pregnancies, and a depression screening at her postpartum visit 2 months ago was negative.

● How would you proceed with this patient?

*The patient’s name has been changed to protect her identity.

During the perinatal period, women are particularly vulnerable to affective disorders, and primary care physicians are encouraged to routinely screen for and treat depression in pregnant and postpartum women.¹ However, anxiety disorders have a higher incidence than mood disorders in the general population,² and perinatal anxiety may be more widely underrecognized and undertreated than depression.³ In addition, higher depression scores early in pregnancy have been shown to predict higher anxiety later in pregnancy.⁴

As family physicians, we are well-trained to recognize and treat anxiety disorders in the general patient population; however, we may lack the awareness and tools to identify these conditions in the perinatal period. Given our frequent encounters with both mom and baby in a child’s first year of life, we are uniquely positioned to promptly recognize, diagnose, and treat postpartum anxiety and thereby improve health outcomes for families.

DEFINING PERINATAL ANXIETY

Anxiety disorders (including generalized anxiety disorder, panic, phobia, and social anxiety) are the most common mental health disorders evaluated and treated in the primary care setting, with a lifetime prevalence of close to 30%.²

Continue to: A recent report from...

A recent report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) estimates that 1 in 9 women experience symptoms of postpartum depression.⁵ The prevalence of anxiety disorders during pregnancy and the early postpartum period is not as well-known, but studies suggest that perinatal anxiety is much more prevalent than depression. In one study, generalized anxiety disorder (GAD) in the pre- and postnatal periods was 15.8% and 17.1%, respectively; an incidence far exceeding that of perinatal depression (3.9% and 4.8%, for the same periods).⁶ Additional evidence suggests that even more women in the postnatal period experience clinically significant levels of anxiety but do not meet full diagnostic criteria for an anxiety disorder.⁷

Consider screening for postpartum anxiety with the GAD-7 or the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale (questions 3-5).

In another study, 9.5% of women met criteria for GAD at some point during pregnancy, with highest anxiety levels in the first trimester.⁸ Women with a history of GAD, lower education, lack of social support, and personal history of child abuse have the highest risk for postpartum anxiety. Women with a history of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) may be twice as likely to develop postpartum anxiety as healthy women.⁹

It has been well-documented that sleep disruption—which is very common in new mothers in the postnatal period—contributes to mood and anxiety disorders.^10,11

Clarifying a diagnosis of postpartum anxiety

The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, 5th edition (DSM-5)¹² specifies no diagnosis of postpartum anxiety disorder. And no standardized diagnostic criteria exist. It is likely that in some cases, postpartum anxiety represents an exacerbation of underlying GAD, and in other cases it is a situational disorder brought about by specific circumstances of the peripartum period.

The DSM-5 does, however, provide a helpful diagnostic approach. It defines a diagnosis of postpartum depression as being a variant of major depressive disorder (MDD) in which a woman must 1) meet criteria for a major depressive episode; and 2) occur during pregnancy or within 4 weeks of delivery. In practice, many clinicians extend the second requirement to include the first year postpartum.¹³ There is a “with anxious distress” specifier for major depression in the DSM-5, but the 2 disorders are otherwise unlinked.

Continue to: To apply the...

To apply the DSM-5 principles for postpartum depression to postpartum anxiety, a patient would need to 1) meet the diagnostic criteria for an anxiety disorder that 2) have their onset within a specified perinatal period. Variant presentations of anxiety in the postpartum period might include panic disorder and phobias, which could also interfere with a woman’s ability to care for her child.

The DSM-5 offers the following criteria for GAD¹²:

• excessive worry about a variety of topics
• worry that is experienced as hard to control
• worry associated with at least 3 physical or cognitive symptoms: edginess/restlessness, tiring easily, impaired concentration, irritability
• anxiety, worry, or associated symptoms that make it hard to carry out day-to-day activities and responsibilities
• symptoms that are unrelated to any other medical conditions and cannot be explained by the effect of substances including a prescription medication, alcohol, or recreational drugs
• symptoms that are not better explained by a different mental disorder.

Debilitating effects of postpartum anxiety

Many women experience some level of anxiety during pregnancy and early postpartum—anxiety that may range from normal and adaptive to debilitating.¹⁴ While the challenges of caring for a newborn are likely to bring some level of anxiety, these symptoms should be transient and not interfere with a woman’s capacity to care for her infant, herself, or her family.

Postpartum anxiety has been associated with a prior fear of giving birth, fear of death (of both mother and baby), lack of control, lack of self-confidence, and lack of confidence in the medical system.⁹ The experience of such ongoing disturbing thoughts or feelings of worry and tension that affect a woman’s ability to manage from day to day should indicate an illness state that deserves medical attention.

Consider diagnosing postpartum anxiety when DSM-5 criteria for generalized anxiety disorder are met during the first year postpartum.

Mothers with postpartum anxiety disorders report significantly less bonding with their infants than do mothers without anxiety.¹⁵ A recent narrative review describes numerous studies that illustrate the negative effects of postpartum anxiety on bonding, breastfeeding, infant temperament, early childhood development, and conduct disorders.¹⁶ Anxious women may be less likely to initiate breastfeeding, have more challenges with breastfeeding, and even have a different milk composition.¹⁷ Women with prenatal anxiety are also more likely to stop breastfeeding prematurely.¹⁸ Children of anxious mothers may be more likely to have a difficult temperament and to display more distress.¹⁹ There are small studies demonstrating deficits in early infant development and increases in conduct disorder in the male offspring of anxious women.²⁰

Continue to: SCREENING FOR POSTPARTUM ANXIETY

SCREENING FOR POSTPARTUM ANXIETY

Screening for perinatal depression has become standard of care, and the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale (EPDS) is a widely used instrument.¹ The EPDS, a 10-question self-report scale, was created and validated to screen for perinatal depression, with a cutoff of > 10/30 usually considered a positive result.

Researchers have investigated the utility of the EPDS as a screening tool for perinatal anxiety as well.^21-23 These studies show some promise, but there are questions as to whether a total score or a subscale score of the EPDS is most accurate in detecting anxiety. Women with perinatal anxiety may score low on the total EPDS, yet score higher on 3 anxiety-specific questions (TABLE 1²³). For this reason, several studies propose an EPDS anxiety subscore or subscale (referred to as EPDS-3A).

Of note, there are some women who will score high on the subscale who do not ultimately meet the criteria for an anxiety disorder diagnosis. Clinicians should not over-interpret these scores and should always use sound clinical judgment when making a diagnosis.

Research has also focused on using the GAD 7-item (GAD-7) scale (TABLE 2²⁴),²⁵ and on the development of new tools and screening tools designed specifically for perinatal anxiety, including the Postpartum Worry Scale²⁶ and the Postpartum Specific Anxiety Scale (PSAS).²⁷

Family physicians may consider using the EPDS subscale if they are already using the EPDS, or adding the GAD-7 as a separate screening instrument during a postpartum visit. To date there is no one standard recommendation or screening tool.

Continue to: NONPHARMACOLOGIC TREATMENT

As one would with any patient who has situational anxiety, help new mothers find ways to increase their coping skills, reduce stress, and mobilize social supports and family resources. Given the association between sleep disruption and perinatal anxiety, counsel new mothers, especially those at high risk for postpartum anxiety, to prioritize sleep during this vulnerable time. To that end, consider recommending that they ask partners, family members, or friends to help them take care of the infant at night (or during the day). Such nonmedical interventions may be sufficient for women with mild anxiety.

Very few studies have addressed nonpharmacologic management of postpartum anxiety, but cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) has been shown to help in managing and treating anxiety disorders outside of pregnancy.²⁸ A few small studies indicate promise for CBT and for mindfulness-based interventions (MBIs) during pregnancy.²⁹

A 2016 systematic review of pharmacologic and nonpharmacologic treatment of anxiety in the perinatal period found support for the use of CBT for panic disorder and specific phobias both in pregnancy and postpartum.³⁰ A very small study found that teaching mothers to massage their preterm infants decreased maternal anxiety.³¹

If the patient is amenable, it is reasonable to start with behavioral interventions like CBT or MBI before pharmacologic treatment—particularly when physicians have mental health professionals embedded in their primary care team.

PHARMACOLOGIC TREATMENT

Selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) and serotonin norepinephrine reuptake inhibitors (SNRIs) are considered first-line treatment for moderate to severe anxiety disorders in the perinatal and postnatal period.

Continue to: SSRIs in pregnancy

SSRIs in pregnancy. Lacking support of randomized controlled trials, most recommendations regarding SSRIs in pregnancy come from expert consensus or cohort and case control studies. Studies have raised concerns for an increased rate of congenital heart defects among fetuses exposed to paroxetine³² and primary pulmonary hypertension with all SSRIs.³³ But the absolute risks are quite small. There have also been concerns regarding low birth weight and preterm birth, but it is possible that these outcomes result from the depression itself rather than the medication.³⁴

Many experts believe that not treating anxiety/ depression is more harmful than the fetal effects of SSRIs.

Unfortunately, there are very few studies evaluating the efficacy of SSRIs in treating postpartum depression³⁵ and even fewer that specifically evaluate their effect on perinatal anxiety. Many experts believe that not treating anxiety/depression is actually more harmful than the fetal effects of SSRIs, and that SSRIs are largely safe in both pregnancy and while breastfeeding, with benefits outweighing the risks.

SSRIs while breastfeeding. SSRIs have been found to be present in varying levels in breastmilk but may or may not be present in the serum of nursing infants.³⁶ A 2008 guideline from the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists lists paroxetine, sertraline, and fluvoxamine as slightly safer than fluoxetine, escitalopram, and citalopram.³⁷ A 2015 systematic review similarly concluded that sertraline and paroxetine have the most safety data on lactation.³⁸ Lowest effective dose is always recommended to minimize exposure.

Benzodiazepines. As in the general population, benzodiazepines should be reserved for short-term use in acute anxiety and panic because they are associated with such adverse effects as worsening of depression/anxiety and risk of dependence and overdose. Longer-acting benzodiazepines (eg, clonazepam) are generally not recommended in lactation because of reported effects on infants, including sedation. Shorter-acting benzodiazepines (eg, lorazepam) are considered safer in lactation.³⁹

THE CASE

Julia saw her family physician 4 more times, was evaluated by an ear-nose-and-throat specialist for her throat complaints, saw a therapist for CBT and a psychiatrist for medication, had 3 more ED visits, and lost 23 pounds before she finally agreed to start an SSRI for postpartum anxiety. She screened high on the EPDS-3A (9/9) despite scoring low on the full EPDS for perinatal depression (total, 9/30).

Continue to: Because of her swallowing impediments...

Because of her swallowing impediments and because she was breastfeeding, sertraline solution was started at very small doses. It was titrated weekly to obtain therapeutic levels. By 4 weeks, her weight stabilized. By 8 weeks, she started gaining weight and sleeping better. She saw the therapist regularly to continue CBT techniques. Over the next several months she started eating a normal diet. She is currently maintained on her SSRI, is still breastfeeding, and has achieved insight into her perinatal anxiety disorder.

CORRESPONDENCE
Veronica Jordan, MD, 3569 Round Barn Cir #200, Santa Rosa, CA 95403; veronica.a.jordan@gmail.com.

THE CASE

Julia* is a 31-year-old woman, gravida 3 para 3, who presents to your office for evaluation after a recent emergency department (ED) visit. Her husband and children are with her. She is 4 months postpartum after an uncomplicated normal spontaneous vaginal delivery. She is breastfeeding her healthy baby boy and is using an intrauterine device for birth control. She went to the ED last week after “choking on a chip” while having lunch with her children. It felt like she “couldn’t breathe.” She called 911 herself. The ED evaluation was unremarkable. Her discharge diagnosis was “panic attack,” and she was sent home with a prescription for lorazepam.

Since the incident, she has been unable to eat any solid foods and has lost 7 pounds. She also reports a globus sensation, extreme fear of swallowing, insomnia, and pervasive thoughts that she could die at any moment and leave her children motherless. She has not taken the lorazepam.

She has a history of self-reported anxiety dating back to high school but no history of panic attacks. She has never been diagnosed with an anxiety disorder and has never before been prescribed anti-anxiety medication. She doesn’t have a history of postpartum depression in prior pregnancies, and a depression screening at her postpartum visit 2 months ago was negative.

● How would you proceed with this patient?

*The patient’s name has been changed to protect her identity.

During the perinatal period, women are particularly vulnerable to affective disorders, and primary care physicians are encouraged to routinely screen for and treat depression in pregnant and postpartum women.¹ However, anxiety disorders have a higher incidence than mood disorders in the general population,² and perinatal anxiety may be more widely underrecognized and undertreated than depression.³ In addition, higher depression scores early in pregnancy have been shown to predict higher anxiety later in pregnancy.⁴

As family physicians, we are well-trained to recognize and treat anxiety disorders in the general patient population; however, we may lack the awareness and tools to identify these conditions in the perinatal period. Given our frequent encounters with both mom and baby in a child’s first year of life, we are uniquely positioned to promptly recognize, diagnose, and treat postpartum anxiety and thereby improve health outcomes for families.

DEFINING PERINATAL ANXIETY

Anxiety disorders (including generalized anxiety disorder, panic, phobia, and social anxiety) are the most common mental health disorders evaluated and treated in the primary care setting, with a lifetime prevalence of close to 30%.²

Continue to: A recent report from...

A recent report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) estimates that 1 in 9 women experience symptoms of postpartum depression.⁵ The prevalence of anxiety disorders during pregnancy and the early postpartum period is not as well-known, but studies suggest that perinatal anxiety is much more prevalent than depression. In one study, generalized anxiety disorder (GAD) in the pre- and postnatal periods was 15.8% and 17.1%, respectively; an incidence far exceeding that of perinatal depression (3.9% and 4.8%, for the same periods).⁶ Additional evidence suggests that even more women in the postnatal period experience clinically significant levels of anxiety but do not meet full diagnostic criteria for an anxiety disorder.⁷

Consider screening for postpartum anxiety with the GAD-7 or the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale (questions 3-5).

In another study, 9.5% of women met criteria for GAD at some point during pregnancy, with highest anxiety levels in the first trimester.⁸ Women with a history of GAD, lower education, lack of social support, and personal history of child abuse have the highest risk for postpartum anxiety. Women with a history of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) may be twice as likely to develop postpartum anxiety as healthy women.⁹

It has been well-documented that sleep disruption—which is very common in new mothers in the postnatal period—contributes to mood and anxiety disorders.^10,11

Clarifying a diagnosis of postpartum anxiety

The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, 5th edition (DSM-5)¹² specifies no diagnosis of postpartum anxiety disorder. And no standardized diagnostic criteria exist. It is likely that in some cases, postpartum anxiety represents an exacerbation of underlying GAD, and in other cases it is a situational disorder brought about by specific circumstances of the peripartum period.

The DSM-5 does, however, provide a helpful diagnostic approach. It defines a diagnosis of postpartum depression as being a variant of major depressive disorder (MDD) in which a woman must 1) meet criteria for a major depressive episode; and 2) occur during pregnancy or within 4 weeks of delivery. In practice, many clinicians extend the second requirement to include the first year postpartum.¹³ There is a “with anxious distress” specifier for major depression in the DSM-5, but the 2 disorders are otherwise unlinked.

Continue to: To apply the...

To apply the DSM-5 principles for postpartum depression to postpartum anxiety, a patient would need to 1) meet the diagnostic criteria for an anxiety disorder that 2) have their onset within a specified perinatal period. Variant presentations of anxiety in the postpartum period might include panic disorder and phobias, which could also interfere with a woman’s ability to care for her child.

The DSM-5 offers the following criteria for GAD¹²:

• excessive worry about a variety of topics
• worry that is experienced as hard to control
• worry associated with at least 3 physical or cognitive symptoms: edginess/restlessness, tiring easily, impaired concentration, irritability
• anxiety, worry, or associated symptoms that make it hard to carry out day-to-day activities and responsibilities
• symptoms that are unrelated to any other medical conditions and cannot be explained by the effect of substances including a prescription medication, alcohol, or recreational drugs
• symptoms that are not better explained by a different mental disorder.

Debilitating effects of postpartum anxiety

Many women experience some level of anxiety during pregnancy and early postpartum—anxiety that may range from normal and adaptive to debilitating.¹⁴ While the challenges of caring for a newborn are likely to bring some level of anxiety, these symptoms should be transient and not interfere with a woman’s capacity to care for her infant, herself, or her family.

Postpartum anxiety has been associated with a prior fear of giving birth, fear of death (of both mother and baby), lack of control, lack of self-confidence, and lack of confidence in the medical system.⁹ The experience of such ongoing disturbing thoughts or feelings of worry and tension that affect a woman’s ability to manage from day to day should indicate an illness state that deserves medical attention.

Consider diagnosing postpartum anxiety when DSM-5 criteria for generalized anxiety disorder are met during the first year postpartum.

Mothers with postpartum anxiety disorders report significantly less bonding with their infants than do mothers without anxiety.¹⁵ A recent narrative review describes numerous studies that illustrate the negative effects of postpartum anxiety on bonding, breastfeeding, infant temperament, early childhood development, and conduct disorders.¹⁶ Anxious women may be less likely to initiate breastfeeding, have more challenges with breastfeeding, and even have a different milk composition.¹⁷ Women with prenatal anxiety are also more likely to stop breastfeeding prematurely.¹⁸ Children of anxious mothers may be more likely to have a difficult temperament and to display more distress.¹⁹ There are small studies demonstrating deficits in early infant development and increases in conduct disorder in the male offspring of anxious women.²⁰

Continue to: SCREENING FOR POSTPARTUM ANXIETY

SCREENING FOR POSTPARTUM ANXIETY

Screening for perinatal depression has become standard of care, and the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale (EPDS) is a widely used instrument.¹ The EPDS, a 10-question self-report scale, was created and validated to screen for perinatal depression, with a cutoff of > 10/30 usually considered a positive result.

Researchers have investigated the utility of the EPDS as a screening tool for perinatal anxiety as well.^21-23 These studies show some promise, but there are questions as to whether a total score or a subscale score of the EPDS is most accurate in detecting anxiety. Women with perinatal anxiety may score low on the total EPDS, yet score higher on 3 anxiety-specific questions (TABLE 1²³). For this reason, several studies propose an EPDS anxiety subscore or subscale (referred to as EPDS-3A).

Of note, there are some women who will score high on the subscale who do not ultimately meet the criteria for an anxiety disorder diagnosis. Clinicians should not over-interpret these scores and should always use sound clinical judgment when making a diagnosis.

Research has also focused on using the GAD 7-item (GAD-7) scale (TABLE 2²⁴),²⁵ and on the development of new tools and screening tools designed specifically for perinatal anxiety, including the Postpartum Worry Scale²⁶ and the Postpartum Specific Anxiety Scale (PSAS).²⁷

Family physicians may consider using the EPDS subscale if they are already using the EPDS, or adding the GAD-7 as a separate screening instrument during a postpartum visit. To date there is no one standard recommendation or screening tool.

Continue to: NONPHARMACOLOGIC TREATMENT

As one would with any patient who has situational anxiety, help new mothers find ways to increase their coping skills, reduce stress, and mobilize social supports and family resources. Given the association between sleep disruption and perinatal anxiety, counsel new mothers, especially those at high risk for postpartum anxiety, to prioritize sleep during this vulnerable time. To that end, consider recommending that they ask partners, family members, or friends to help them take care of the infant at night (or during the day). Such nonmedical interventions may be sufficient for women with mild anxiety.

Very few studies have addressed nonpharmacologic management of postpartum anxiety, but cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) has been shown to help in managing and treating anxiety disorders outside of pregnancy.²⁸ A few small studies indicate promise for CBT and for mindfulness-based interventions (MBIs) during pregnancy.²⁹

A 2016 systematic review of pharmacologic and nonpharmacologic treatment of anxiety in the perinatal period found support for the use of CBT for panic disorder and specific phobias both in pregnancy and postpartum.³⁰ A very small study found that teaching mothers to massage their preterm infants decreased maternal anxiety.³¹

If the patient is amenable, it is reasonable to start with behavioral interventions like CBT or MBI before pharmacologic treatment—particularly when physicians have mental health professionals embedded in their primary care team.

PHARMACOLOGIC TREATMENT

Selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) and serotonin norepinephrine reuptake inhibitors (SNRIs) are considered first-line treatment for moderate to severe anxiety disorders in the perinatal and postnatal period.

Continue to: SSRIs in pregnancy

SSRIs in pregnancy. Lacking support of randomized controlled trials, most recommendations regarding SSRIs in pregnancy come from expert consensus or cohort and case control studies. Studies have raised concerns for an increased rate of congenital heart defects among fetuses exposed to paroxetine³² and primary pulmonary hypertension with all SSRIs.³³ But the absolute risks are quite small. There have also been concerns regarding low birth weight and preterm birth, but it is possible that these outcomes result from the depression itself rather than the medication.³⁴

Many experts believe that not treating anxiety/ depression is more harmful than the fetal effects of SSRIs.

Unfortunately, there are very few studies evaluating the efficacy of SSRIs in treating postpartum depression³⁵ and even fewer that specifically evaluate their effect on perinatal anxiety. Many experts believe that not treating anxiety/depression is actually more harmful than the fetal effects of SSRIs, and that SSRIs are largely safe in both pregnancy and while breastfeeding, with benefits outweighing the risks.

SSRIs while breastfeeding. SSRIs have been found to be present in varying levels in breastmilk but may or may not be present in the serum of nursing infants.³⁶ A 2008 guideline from the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists lists paroxetine, sertraline, and fluvoxamine as slightly safer than fluoxetine, escitalopram, and citalopram.³⁷ A 2015 systematic review similarly concluded that sertraline and paroxetine have the most safety data on lactation.³⁸ Lowest effective dose is always recommended to minimize exposure.

Benzodiazepines. As in the general population, benzodiazepines should be reserved for short-term use in acute anxiety and panic because they are associated with such adverse effects as worsening of depression/anxiety and risk of dependence and overdose. Longer-acting benzodiazepines (eg, clonazepam) are generally not recommended in lactation because of reported effects on infants, including sedation. Shorter-acting benzodiazepines (eg, lorazepam) are considered safer in lactation.³⁹

THE CASE

Julia saw her family physician 4 more times, was evaluated by an ear-nose-and-throat specialist for her throat complaints, saw a therapist for CBT and a psychiatrist for medication, had 3 more ED visits, and lost 23 pounds before she finally agreed to start an SSRI for postpartum anxiety. She screened high on the EPDS-3A (9/9) despite scoring low on the full EPDS for perinatal depression (total, 9/30).

Continue to: Because of her swallowing impediments...

Because of her swallowing impediments and because she was breastfeeding, sertraline solution was started at very small doses. It was titrated weekly to obtain therapeutic levels. By 4 weeks, her weight stabilized. By 8 weeks, she started gaining weight and sleeping better. She saw the therapist regularly to continue CBT techniques. Over the next several months she started eating a normal diet. She is currently maintained on her SSRI, is still breastfeeding, and has achieved insight into her perinatal anxiety disorder.

CORRESPONDENCE
Veronica Jordan, MD, 3569 Round Barn Cir #200, Santa Rosa, CA 95403; veronica.a.jordan@gmail.com.

THE CASE

Ms. E, a 42-year-old woman, visited her new physician for a physical exam. When asked about alcohol intake, she reported that she drank 3 to 4 beers after work and sometimes 5 to 8 beers a day on the weekends. Occasionally, she exceeded those amounts, but she didn’t feel guilty about her drinking. She was often late to work and said her relationship with her boyfriend was strained. A review of systems was positive for fatigue, poor concentration, abdominal pain, and weight gain. Her body mass index was 41, pulse 100 beats/min, blood pressure 125/75 mm Hg, and she was afebrile. Her physical exam was otherwise within normal limits.

How would you proceed with this patient?

Alcohol use disorder (AUD) is a common and often untreated condition that is increasingly prevalent in the United States.¹ The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, 5th Edition (DSM-5) characterizes AUD as a combination of signs and symptoms typifying alcohol abuse and dependence (discussed in a bit).²

Data from the 2015 National Survey on Drug Use and Health (NSDUH) showed 15.7 million Americans with AUD, affecting 6.2% of the population ages 18 years or older and 2.5% of adolescents ages 12 to 17 years.³

Alcohol use and AUD account for an estimated 3.8% of all global deaths and 4.6% of global disability-adjusted life years.⁴ AUD adversely affects several systems (TABLE 1⁵), and patients with AUD are sicker and more likely to die younger than those without AUD.⁴ In the United States, prevalence of AUD has increased in recent years among women, older adults, racial minorities, and individuals with a low education level.⁶

Screening for AUD is reasonable and straightforward, although diagnosis and treatment of AUD in primary care settings may be challenging due to competing clinical priorities; lack of training, resources, and support; and skepticism about the efficacy of behavioral and pharmacologic treatments.^7,8 However, family physicians are in an excellent position to diagnose and help address the complex biopsychosocial needs of patients with AUD, often in collaboration with colleagues and community organizations.

Signs and symptoms of AUD

In clinical practice, at least 2 of the following 11 behaviors or symptoms are required to diagnose AUD²:

• consuming larger amounts of alcohol over a longer period than intended
• persistent desire or unsuccessful efforts to cut down or control alcohol use
• making a significant effort to obtain, use, or recover from alcohol

In moderate-to-severe cases:

• cravings or urges to use alcohol
• recurrent failure to fulfill major work, school, or social obligations
• continued alcohol use despite recurrent social and interpersonal problems
• giving up social, occupational, and recreational activities due to alcohol
• using alcohol in physically dangerous situations
• continued alcohol use despite having physical or psychological problems
• tolerance to alcohol’s effects
• withdrawal symptoms.

Continue to: Patients meet criteria for mild AUD severity if...

Patients meet criteria for mild AUD severity if they exhibit 2 or 3 symptoms, moderate AUD with 4 or 5 symptoms, and severe AUD if there are 6 or more symptoms.²

USPSTF recommends screening for alcohol use disorder with the 10-question AUDIT, 3-question AUDIT-C, or single-question NIAAA tool.

Those who meet criteria for AUD and are able to stop using alcohol are deemed to be in early remission if the criteria have gone unfulfilled for at least 3 months and less than 12 months. Patients are considered to be in sustained remission if they have not met criteria for AUD at any time during a period of 12 months or longer.

How to detect AUD

Several clues in a patient’s history can suggest AUD (TABLE 2^9,10). Most imbibers are unaware of the dangers and may consider themselves merely “social drinkers.” Binge drinking may be an early indicator of vulnerability to AUD and should be assessed as part of a thorough clinical evaluation.¹¹ The US Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) recommends (Grade B) that clinicians screen adults ages 18 years or older for alcohol misuse.¹²

Studies demonstrate that both genetic and environmental factors play important roles in the development of AUD.¹³ A family history of excessive alcohol use increases the risk of AUD. Comorbidity of AUD and other mental health conditions is extremely common. For example, high rates of association between major depressive disorder and AUD have been observed.¹⁴

Tools to use in screening and diagnosing AUD

Screening for AUD during an office visit can be done fairly quickly. While 96% of primary care physicians screen for alcohol misuse in some way, only 38% use 1 of the 3 tools recommended by the USPSTF¹⁵—the Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test (AUDIT), the abbreviated AUDIT-C, or the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA) single question screen—which detect the full spectrum of alcohol misuse in adults.¹² Although the commonly used CAGE questionnaire is one of the most studied self-report tools, it has lower sensitivity at a lower level of alcohol intake.¹⁶

Continue to: The NIAAA single-question screen asks...

The NIAAA single-question screen asks how many times in the past year the patient had ≥4 drinks (women) or ≥5 drinks (men) in a day.¹⁵ The sensitivity and specificity of single-question screening are 82% to 87% and 61% to 79%, respectively, and the test has been validated in several different settings.¹² The AUDIT screening tool, freely available from the World Health Organization, is a 10-item questionnaire that probes an individual’s alcohol intake, alcohol dependence, and adverse consequences of alcohol use. Administration of the AUDIT typically requires only 2 minutes. AUDIT-C¹⁷ is an abbreviated version of the AUDIT questionnaire that asks 3 consumption questions to screen for AUD.

It was found that AUDIT scores in the range of 8 to 15 indicate a medium-level alcohol problem, whereas a score of ≥16 indicates a high-level alcohol problem. The AUDIT-C is scored from 0 to 12, with ≥4 indicating a problem in men and ≥3 a problem in women.

THE CASE

The physician had used the NIAAA single- question screen to determine that Ms. E drank more than 4 beers per day during social events and weekends, which occurred 2 to 3 times per month over the past year. She lives alone and said that she’d been seeing less and less of her boyfriend lately. Her score on the Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ), which screens for depression, was 11, indicating moderate impairment. Her response on the CAGE questionnaire was negative for a problem with alcohol. However, her AUDIT score was 17, indicating a high-level alcohol problem. Based on these findings, her physician expressed concern that her alcohol use might be contributing to her symptoms and difficulties.

The CAGE questionnaire has lower sensitivity when alcohol intake is lower.

Although she did not have a history of increasing usage per day, a persistent desire to cut down, significant effort to obtain alcohol, or cravings, she was having work troubles and continued to drink even though it was straining relationships, promoting weight gain, and causing abdominal pain.

The physician asked her to schedule a return visit and ordered several blood studies. He also offered to connect her with a colleague with whom he collaborated who could speak with her about possible alcohol use disorders and depression.

Continue to: Selecting blood work in screening for AUD

Lab tests used to measure hepatic injury due to alcohol include gamma-glutamyl-transferase, aspartate aminotransferase (AST), alanine aminotransferase (ALT), and macrocytic volume, although the indices of hepatic damage have low specificity. Elevated serum ethanol levels can reveal recent alcohol use, and vitamin deficiencies and other abnormalities can be used to differentiate other causes of hepatic inflammation and co-existing health issues (TABLE 3^10,18). A number of as-yet-unvalidated biomarkers are being studied to assist in screening, diagnosing, and treating AUD.¹⁸

What treatment approaches work for AUD?

Family physicians can efficiently and productively address AUD by using alcohol screening and brief intervention, which have been shown to reduce risky drinking. Reimbursement for this service is covered by such CPT codes as 99408, 99409, or H0049, or with other evaluation and management (E/M) codes by using modifier 25.

Treatment of AUD varies and should be customized to each patient’s needs, readiness, preferences, and resources. Individual and group counseling approaches can be effective, and medications are available for inpatient and outpatient settings. Psychotherapy options include brief interventions, 12-step programs (eg, Alcoholics Anonymous—https://www.aa.org/pages/en_US/find-aa-resources),motivational enhancement therapy, and cognitive behavioral therapy. Although it is beyond the scope of this article to describe these options in detail, resources are available for those who wish to learn more.^19-21

Psychopharmacologic management includes US Food and Drug Administration (FDA)-approved medications such as disulfiram, naltrexone, and acamprosate, and off-label uses of other medications (TABLE 4⁹). Not enough empiric evidence is available to judge the effectiveness of these medications in adolescents, and the FDA has not approved them for such use. Evidence from meta-analyses comparing naltrexone and acamprosate have shown naltrexone to be more efficacious in reducing heavy drinking and cravings, while acamprosate is effective in promoting abstinence.^22,23 Naltrexone combined with behavioral intervention reduces the heavy drinking days and percentage of abstinence days.²⁴

Current guideline recommendations from the American Psychiatric Association²⁵ include:

• Naltrexone and acamprosate are recommended to treat patients with moderate-to-severe AUD in specific circumstances (eg, when nonpharmacologic approaches have failed to produce an effect or when patients prefer to use one of these medications).
• Topiramate and gabapentin are also suggested as medications for patients with moderate-to-severe AUD, but typically after first trying naltrexone and acamprosate.
• Disulfiram generally should not be used as first-line treatment. It produces physical reactions (eg, flushing) if alcohol is consumed within 12 to 24 hours of medication use.

Continue to: THE CASE

Ms. E was open to the idea of decreasing her alcohol use and agreed that she was depressed. Her lab tests at follow-up were normal other than an elevated AST/ALT of 90/80 U/L. She received brief counseling from her family physician combined with cognitive behavioral therapy by a psychologist colleague. A subsequent ultrasound of her liver showed mild hepatomegaly and moderate-to-severe steatosis with nodularity of the liver, raising the possibility of cirrhosis.

The NIAAA single-question screen asks how many times in the past year the patient had ≥4 drinks (women) or ≥5 drinks (men) in a day.

She continued to get counseling for her AUD and for her comorbid depression in addition to taking a selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor. She is now in early remission for her alcohol use.

CORRESPONDENCE
Jaividhya Dasarathy, MD, Department of Family Medicine, Metro Health Medical Center, 2500 MetroHealth Drive, Cleveland, OH 44109; jdasarathy@metrohealth.org.

THE CASE

Ms. E, a 42-year-old woman, visited her new physician for a physical exam. When asked about alcohol intake, she reported that she drank 3 to 4 beers after work and sometimes 5 to 8 beers a day on the weekends. Occasionally, she exceeded those amounts, but she didn’t feel guilty about her drinking. She was often late to work and said her relationship with her boyfriend was strained. A review of systems was positive for fatigue, poor concentration, abdominal pain, and weight gain. Her body mass index was 41, pulse 100 beats/min, blood pressure 125/75 mm Hg, and she was afebrile. Her physical exam was otherwise within normal limits.

How would you proceed with this patient?

Alcohol use disorder (AUD) is a common and often untreated condition that is increasingly prevalent in the United States.¹ The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, 5th Edition (DSM-5) characterizes AUD as a combination of signs and symptoms typifying alcohol abuse and dependence (discussed in a bit).²

Data from the 2015 National Survey on Drug Use and Health (NSDUH) showed 15.7 million Americans with AUD, affecting 6.2% of the population ages 18 years or older and 2.5% of adolescents ages 12 to 17 years.³

Alcohol use and AUD account for an estimated 3.8% of all global deaths and 4.6% of global disability-adjusted life years.⁴ AUD adversely affects several systems (TABLE 1⁵), and patients with AUD are sicker and more likely to die younger than those without AUD.⁴ In the United States, prevalence of AUD has increased in recent years among women, older adults, racial minorities, and individuals with a low education level.⁶

Screening for AUD is reasonable and straightforward, although diagnosis and treatment of AUD in primary care settings may be challenging due to competing clinical priorities; lack of training, resources, and support; and skepticism about the efficacy of behavioral and pharmacologic treatments.^7,8 However, family physicians are in an excellent position to diagnose and help address the complex biopsychosocial needs of patients with AUD, often in collaboration with colleagues and community organizations.

Signs and symptoms of AUD

In clinical practice, at least 2 of the following 11 behaviors or symptoms are required to diagnose AUD²:

• consuming larger amounts of alcohol over a longer period than intended
• persistent desire or unsuccessful efforts to cut down or control alcohol use
• making a significant effort to obtain, use, or recover from alcohol

In moderate-to-severe cases:

• cravings or urges to use alcohol
• recurrent failure to fulfill major work, school, or social obligations
• continued alcohol use despite recurrent social and interpersonal problems
• giving up social, occupational, and recreational activities due to alcohol
• using alcohol in physically dangerous situations
• continued alcohol use despite having physical or psychological problems
• tolerance to alcohol’s effects
• withdrawal symptoms.

Continue to: Patients meet criteria for mild AUD severity if...

Patients meet criteria for mild AUD severity if they exhibit 2 or 3 symptoms, moderate AUD with 4 or 5 symptoms, and severe AUD if there are 6 or more symptoms.²

USPSTF recommends screening for alcohol use disorder with the 10-question AUDIT, 3-question AUDIT-C, or single-question NIAAA tool.

Those who meet criteria for AUD and are able to stop using alcohol are deemed to be in early remission if the criteria have gone unfulfilled for at least 3 months and less than 12 months. Patients are considered to be in sustained remission if they have not met criteria for AUD at any time during a period of 12 months or longer.

How to detect AUD

Several clues in a patient’s history can suggest AUD (TABLE 2^9,10). Most imbibers are unaware of the dangers and may consider themselves merely “social drinkers.” Binge drinking may be an early indicator of vulnerability to AUD and should be assessed as part of a thorough clinical evaluation.¹¹ The US Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) recommends (Grade B) that clinicians screen adults ages 18 years or older for alcohol misuse.¹²

Studies demonstrate that both genetic and environmental factors play important roles in the development of AUD.¹³ A family history of excessive alcohol use increases the risk of AUD. Comorbidity of AUD and other mental health conditions is extremely common. For example, high rates of association between major depressive disorder and AUD have been observed.¹⁴

Tools to use in screening and diagnosing AUD

Screening for AUD during an office visit can be done fairly quickly. While 96% of primary care physicians screen for alcohol misuse in some way, only 38% use 1 of the 3 tools recommended by the USPSTF¹⁵—the Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test (AUDIT), the abbreviated AUDIT-C, or the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA) single question screen—which detect the full spectrum of alcohol misuse in adults.¹² Although the commonly used CAGE questionnaire is one of the most studied self-report tools, it has lower sensitivity at a lower level of alcohol intake.¹⁶

Continue to: The NIAAA single-question screen asks...

The NIAAA single-question screen asks how many times in the past year the patient had ≥4 drinks (women) or ≥5 drinks (men) in a day.¹⁵ The sensitivity and specificity of single-question screening are 82% to 87% and 61% to 79%, respectively, and the test has been validated in several different settings.¹² The AUDIT screening tool, freely available from the World Health Organization, is a 10-item questionnaire that probes an individual’s alcohol intake, alcohol dependence, and adverse consequences of alcohol use. Administration of the AUDIT typically requires only 2 minutes. AUDIT-C¹⁷ is an abbreviated version of the AUDIT questionnaire that asks 3 consumption questions to screen for AUD.

It was found that AUDIT scores in the range of 8 to 15 indicate a medium-level alcohol problem, whereas a score of ≥16 indicates a high-level alcohol problem. The AUDIT-C is scored from 0 to 12, with ≥4 indicating a problem in men and ≥3 a problem in women.

THE CASE

The physician had used the NIAAA single- question screen to determine that Ms. E drank more than 4 beers per day during social events and weekends, which occurred 2 to 3 times per month over the past year. She lives alone and said that she’d been seeing less and less of her boyfriend lately. Her score on the Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ), which screens for depression, was 11, indicating moderate impairment. Her response on the CAGE questionnaire was negative for a problem with alcohol. However, her AUDIT score was 17, indicating a high-level alcohol problem. Based on these findings, her physician expressed concern that her alcohol use might be contributing to her symptoms and difficulties.

The CAGE questionnaire has lower sensitivity when alcohol intake is lower.

Although she did not have a history of increasing usage per day, a persistent desire to cut down, significant effort to obtain alcohol, or cravings, she was having work troubles and continued to drink even though it was straining relationships, promoting weight gain, and causing abdominal pain.

The physician asked her to schedule a return visit and ordered several blood studies. He also offered to connect her with a colleague with whom he collaborated who could speak with her about possible alcohol use disorders and depression.

Continue to: Selecting blood work in screening for AUD

Lab tests used to measure hepatic injury due to alcohol include gamma-glutamyl-transferase, aspartate aminotransferase (AST), alanine aminotransferase (ALT), and macrocytic volume, although the indices of hepatic damage have low specificity. Elevated serum ethanol levels can reveal recent alcohol use, and vitamin deficiencies and other abnormalities can be used to differentiate other causes of hepatic inflammation and co-existing health issues (TABLE 3^10,18). A number of as-yet-unvalidated biomarkers are being studied to assist in screening, diagnosing, and treating AUD.¹⁸

What treatment approaches work for AUD?

Family physicians can efficiently and productively address AUD by using alcohol screening and brief intervention, which have been shown to reduce risky drinking. Reimbursement for this service is covered by such CPT codes as 99408, 99409, or H0049, or with other evaluation and management (E/M) codes by using modifier 25.

Treatment of AUD varies and should be customized to each patient’s needs, readiness, preferences, and resources. Individual and group counseling approaches can be effective, and medications are available for inpatient and outpatient settings. Psychotherapy options include brief interventions, 12-step programs (eg, Alcoholics Anonymous—https://www.aa.org/pages/en_US/find-aa-resources),motivational enhancement therapy, and cognitive behavioral therapy. Although it is beyond the scope of this article to describe these options in detail, resources are available for those who wish to learn more.^19-21

Psychopharmacologic management includes US Food and Drug Administration (FDA)-approved medications such as disulfiram, naltrexone, and acamprosate, and off-label uses of other medications (TABLE 4⁹). Not enough empiric evidence is available to judge the effectiveness of these medications in adolescents, and the FDA has not approved them for such use. Evidence from meta-analyses comparing naltrexone and acamprosate have shown naltrexone to be more efficacious in reducing heavy drinking and cravings, while acamprosate is effective in promoting abstinence.^22,23 Naltrexone combined with behavioral intervention reduces the heavy drinking days and percentage of abstinence days.²⁴

Current guideline recommendations from the American Psychiatric Association²⁵ include:

• Naltrexone and acamprosate are recommended to treat patients with moderate-to-severe AUD in specific circumstances (eg, when nonpharmacologic approaches have failed to produce an effect or when patients prefer to use one of these medications).
• Topiramate and gabapentin are also suggested as medications for patients with moderate-to-severe AUD, but typically after first trying naltrexone and acamprosate.
• Disulfiram generally should not be used as first-line treatment. It produces physical reactions (eg, flushing) if alcohol is consumed within 12 to 24 hours of medication use.

Continue to: THE CASE

Ms. E was open to the idea of decreasing her alcohol use and agreed that she was depressed. Her lab tests at follow-up were normal other than an elevated AST/ALT of 90/80 U/L. She received brief counseling from her family physician combined with cognitive behavioral therapy by a psychologist colleague. A subsequent ultrasound of her liver showed mild hepatomegaly and moderate-to-severe steatosis with nodularity of the liver, raising the possibility of cirrhosis.

The NIAAA single-question screen asks how many times in the past year the patient had ≥4 drinks (women) or ≥5 drinks (men) in a day.

She continued to get counseling for her AUD and for her comorbid depression in addition to taking a selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor. She is now in early remission for her alcohol use.

CORRESPONDENCE
Jaividhya Dasarathy, MD, Department of Family Medicine, Metro Health Medical Center, 2500 MetroHealth Drive, Cleveland, OH 44109; jdasarathy@metrohealth.org.

THE CASE

Ms. E, a 42-year-old woman, visited her new physician for a physical exam. When asked about alcohol intake, she reported that she drank 3 to 4 beers after work and sometimes 5 to 8 beers a day on the weekends. Occasionally, she exceeded those amounts, but she didn’t feel guilty about her drinking. She was often late to work and said her relationship with her boyfriend was strained. A review of systems was positive for fatigue, poor concentration, abdominal pain, and weight gain. Her body mass index was 41, pulse 100 beats/min, blood pressure 125/75 mm Hg, and she was afebrile. Her physical exam was otherwise within normal limits.

How would you proceed with this patient?

Alcohol use disorder (AUD) is a common and often untreated condition that is increasingly prevalent in the United States.¹ The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, 5th Edition (DSM-5) characterizes AUD as a combination of signs and symptoms typifying alcohol abuse and dependence (discussed in a bit).²

Data from the 2015 National Survey on Drug Use and Health (NSDUH) showed 15.7 million Americans with AUD, affecting 6.2% of the population ages 18 years or older and 2.5% of adolescents ages 12 to 17 years.³

Alcohol use and AUD account for an estimated 3.8% of all global deaths and 4.6% of global disability-adjusted life years.⁴ AUD adversely affects several systems (TABLE 1⁵), and patients with AUD are sicker and more likely to die younger than those without AUD.⁴ In the United States, prevalence of AUD has increased in recent years among women, older adults, racial minorities, and individuals with a low education level.⁶

Screening for AUD is reasonable and straightforward, although diagnosis and treatment of AUD in primary care settings may be challenging due to competing clinical priorities; lack of training, resources, and support; and skepticism about the efficacy of behavioral and pharmacologic treatments.^7,8 However, family physicians are in an excellent position to diagnose and help address the complex biopsychosocial needs of patients with AUD, often in collaboration with colleagues and community organizations.

Signs and symptoms of AUD

In clinical practice, at least 2 of the following 11 behaviors or symptoms are required to diagnose AUD²:

• consuming larger amounts of alcohol over a longer period than intended
• persistent desire or unsuccessful efforts to cut down or control alcohol use
• making a significant effort to obtain, use, or recover from alcohol

In moderate-to-severe cases:

• cravings or urges to use alcohol
• recurrent failure to fulfill major work, school, or social obligations
• continued alcohol use despite recurrent social and interpersonal problems
• giving up social, occupational, and recreational activities due to alcohol
• using alcohol in physically dangerous situations
• continued alcohol use despite having physical or psychological problems
• tolerance to alcohol’s effects
• withdrawal symptoms.

Continue to: Patients meet criteria for mild AUD severity if...

Patients meet criteria for mild AUD severity if they exhibit 2 or 3 symptoms, moderate AUD with 4 or 5 symptoms, and severe AUD if there are 6 or more symptoms.²

USPSTF recommends screening for alcohol use disorder with the 10-question AUDIT, 3-question AUDIT-C, or single-question NIAAA tool.

Those who meet criteria for AUD and are able to stop using alcohol are deemed to be in early remission if the criteria have gone unfulfilled for at least 3 months and less than 12 months. Patients are considered to be in sustained remission if they have not met criteria for AUD at any time during a period of 12 months or longer.

How to detect AUD

Several clues in a patient’s history can suggest AUD (TABLE 2^9,10). Most imbibers are unaware of the dangers and may consider themselves merely “social drinkers.” Binge drinking may be an early indicator of vulnerability to AUD and should be assessed as part of a thorough clinical evaluation.¹¹ The US Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) recommends (Grade B) that clinicians screen adults ages 18 years or older for alcohol misuse.¹²

Studies demonstrate that both genetic and environmental factors play important roles in the development of AUD.¹³ A family history of excessive alcohol use increases the risk of AUD. Comorbidity of AUD and other mental health conditions is extremely common. For example, high rates of association between major depressive disorder and AUD have been observed.¹⁴

Tools to use in screening and diagnosing AUD

Screening for AUD during an office visit can be done fairly quickly. While 96% of primary care physicians screen for alcohol misuse in some way, only 38% use 1 of the 3 tools recommended by the USPSTF¹⁵—the Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test (AUDIT), the abbreviated AUDIT-C, or the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA) single question screen—which detect the full spectrum of alcohol misuse in adults.¹² Although the commonly used CAGE questionnaire is one of the most studied self-report tools, it has lower sensitivity at a lower level of alcohol intake.¹⁶

Continue to: The NIAAA single-question screen asks...

The NIAAA single-question screen asks how many times in the past year the patient had ≥4 drinks (women) or ≥5 drinks (men) in a day.¹⁵ The sensitivity and specificity of single-question screening are 82% to 87% and 61% to 79%, respectively, and the test has been validated in several different settings.¹² The AUDIT screening tool, freely available from the World Health Organization, is a 10-item questionnaire that probes an individual’s alcohol intake, alcohol dependence, and adverse consequences of alcohol use. Administration of the AUDIT typically requires only 2 minutes. AUDIT-C¹⁷ is an abbreviated version of the AUDIT questionnaire that asks 3 consumption questions to screen for AUD.

It was found that AUDIT scores in the range of 8 to 15 indicate a medium-level alcohol problem, whereas a score of ≥16 indicates a high-level alcohol problem. The AUDIT-C is scored from 0 to 12, with ≥4 indicating a problem in men and ≥3 a problem in women.

THE CASE

The physician had used the NIAAA single- question screen to determine that Ms. E drank more than 4 beers per day during social events and weekends, which occurred 2 to 3 times per month over the past year. She lives alone and said that she’d been seeing less and less of her boyfriend lately. Her score on the Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ), which screens for depression, was 11, indicating moderate impairment. Her response on the CAGE questionnaire was negative for a problem with alcohol. However, her AUDIT score was 17, indicating a high-level alcohol problem. Based on these findings, her physician expressed concern that her alcohol use might be contributing to her symptoms and difficulties.

The CAGE questionnaire has lower sensitivity when alcohol intake is lower.

Although she did not have a history of increasing usage per day, a persistent desire to cut down, significant effort to obtain alcohol, or cravings, she was having work troubles and continued to drink even though it was straining relationships, promoting weight gain, and causing abdominal pain.

The physician asked her to schedule a return visit and ordered several blood studies. He also offered to connect her with a colleague with whom he collaborated who could speak with her about possible alcohol use disorders and depression.

Continue to: Selecting blood work in screening for AUD

Lab tests used to measure hepatic injury due to alcohol include gamma-glutamyl-transferase, aspartate aminotransferase (AST), alanine aminotransferase (ALT), and macrocytic volume, although the indices of hepatic damage have low specificity. Elevated serum ethanol levels can reveal recent alcohol use, and vitamin deficiencies and other abnormalities can be used to differentiate other causes of hepatic inflammation and co-existing health issues (TABLE 3^10,18). A number of as-yet-unvalidated biomarkers are being studied to assist in screening, diagnosing, and treating AUD.¹⁸

What treatment approaches work for AUD?

Family physicians can efficiently and productively address AUD by using alcohol screening and brief intervention, which have been shown to reduce risky drinking. Reimbursement for this service is covered by such CPT codes as 99408, 99409, or H0049, or with other evaluation and management (E/M) codes by using modifier 25.

Treatment of AUD varies and should be customized to each patient’s needs, readiness, preferences, and resources. Individual and group counseling approaches can be effective, and medications are available for inpatient and outpatient settings. Psychotherapy options include brief interventions, 12-step programs (eg, Alcoholics Anonymous—https://www.aa.org/pages/en_US/find-aa-resources),motivational enhancement therapy, and cognitive behavioral therapy. Although it is beyond the scope of this article to describe these options in detail, resources are available for those who wish to learn more.^19-21

Psychopharmacologic management includes US Food and Drug Administration (FDA)-approved medications such as disulfiram, naltrexone, and acamprosate, and off-label uses of other medications (TABLE 4⁹). Not enough empiric evidence is available to judge the effectiveness of these medications in adolescents, and the FDA has not approved them for such use. Evidence from meta-analyses comparing naltrexone and acamprosate have shown naltrexone to be more efficacious in reducing heavy drinking and cravings, while acamprosate is effective in promoting abstinence.^22,23 Naltrexone combined with behavioral intervention reduces the heavy drinking days and percentage of abstinence days.²⁴

Current guideline recommendations from the American Psychiatric Association²⁵ include:

• Naltrexone and acamprosate are recommended to treat patients with moderate-to-severe AUD in specific circumstances (eg, when nonpharmacologic approaches have failed to produce an effect or when patients prefer to use one of these medications).
• Topiramate and gabapentin are also suggested as medications for patients with moderate-to-severe AUD, but typically after first trying naltrexone and acamprosate.
• Disulfiram generally should not be used as first-line treatment. It produces physical reactions (eg, flushing) if alcohol is consumed within 12 to 24 hours of medication use.

Continue to: THE CASE

Ms. E was open to the idea of decreasing her alcohol use and agreed that she was depressed. Her lab tests at follow-up were normal other than an elevated AST/ALT of 90/80 U/L. She received brief counseling from her family physician combined with cognitive behavioral therapy by a psychologist colleague. A subsequent ultrasound of her liver showed mild hepatomegaly and moderate-to-severe steatosis with nodularity of the liver, raising the possibility of cirrhosis.

The NIAAA single-question screen asks how many times in the past year the patient had ≥4 drinks (women) or ≥5 drinks (men) in a day.

She continued to get counseling for her AUD and for her comorbid depression in addition to taking a selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor. She is now in early remission for her alcohol use.

CORRESPONDENCE
Jaividhya Dasarathy, MD, Department of Family Medicine, Metro Health Medical Center, 2500 MetroHealth Drive, Cleveland, OH 44109; jdasarathy@metrohealth.org.

THE CASE

Al* is a 48-year-old patient whose wife, Vera, died of complications from chronic illness 14 months ago. Al thinks about Vera constantly and says he still has difficulty accepting that she is gone. He does not leave the house much anymore and continues to set a place for her at the kitchen table on special occasions. He says, “Some nights in bed, I swear I can hear her in the living room.”

How would you proceed with this patient?

* The names of the patient and his spouse have been changed to protect their identities.

After the loss of a loved one, grief is a natural response to the separation and stress that go along with the death. Most people, after suffering a loss, experience distress that varies in intensity and gradually decreases over time. Thus, the grieving individual does not act as they would normally if they were not bereaved. However, gains are generally made month by month, and most people adjust to the grief and adapt their lives after some time dealing with the absence of the loved one.¹

There’s grief, and then there’s complicated grief

For about 2% to 4% of the population who have experienced a significant loss, complicated grief is an issue.² As its hallmark, complicated grief exceeds the typical amount of time (6-12 months) that people need to recover from a loss. Prevalence has been estimated at 10% to 20% among grieving individuals for whom the death being grieved was that of a romantic partner or child.² At increased risk for this disorder are women older than 60 years, patients diagnosed with depression or substance abuse, individuals under financial strain, and those who have experienced a violent or sudden loss.³

The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, 5th Edition (DSM-5) has conceptualized complicated grief with the name, persistent complex bereavement disorder (PCBD).⁴ While the guidelines for the definition are still in progress, several specified symptoms must have been present for at least 6 months to a year or more (TABLE 1⁴). For instance, the patient has been ruminating about the death, has been unable to accept the death, or has felt shocked or numb. They may also experience anger, have difficulty trusting others, and be preoccupied with the deceased (eg, sense they can hear their lost loved one, feel the loved one’s pain for them). Symptoms of PCBD may also include experiencing vivid reminders of the loss and avoiding situations that bring up thoughts about the death.⁴ (Of note: A grief diagnosis in ICD-10 is captured by the code F43.21; however, there is no specific code for complicated grief or PCBD.)

PCBD is a “condition for further study” in DSM-5; it was omitted from DSM-IV only after much debate. One reason for its omission was concern that clinicians might “pathologize” grief more than it needs to be.⁵ Grief is regarded as a natural process that might be stymied by a formal diagnosis leading to medical treatment.

Shifting the grief diagnosis paradigm

One new development is that recently bereaved patients can be diagnosed with depression if they meet the criteria for that diagnosis. In the past, someone who met criteria for major depression would be excluded from that diagnosis if the depression ensued from grief. DSM-5 no longer makes that distinction.⁴ Given this diagnostic shift, one might wonder about the difference between PCBD and depression, particularly if the patient is a grieving individual with a current diagnosis of depression.⁵

Continue to: Differences between PCBD and major depression

Differences between PCBD and major depression. While antidepressant medication is helpful for patients with moderate-to-severe depression, it has thus far been less helpful for those solely experiencing complicated grief.⁶ The same holds true for traditional psychotherapy. While family physicians can confidently refer people to psychotherapy for depression, it is not as efficacious as focused therapy designed for those with PCBD.⁶

Other differences between PCBD and major depression involve the constructs of guilt and yearning. Depressed patients typically feel guilty about a number of things, while those with complicated grief have specific death-focused guilt.⁷ Depressed people generally do not yearn, while those with grief yearn for their loved one. Finally, and most concerning to clinicians, some patients with PCBD have suicidal thoughts.⁸ While such thoughts in depression are often linked to hopelessness, suicidal thoughts for grieving individuals are generally driven by a desire to be reunited with the deceased loved one.

While suicidal thoughts in depression are generally linked to hopelessness, these thoughts for grieving individuals are generally driven by a desire to be reunited with the deceased loved one.

While these differences may help in making treatment decisions, there can be overlap between depression and complicated grief. As with many mental health diagnoses, major depression and PCBD are not mutually exclusive.⁴

The role of hospice. Another factor sometimes associated with complicated grief is any hindrance to the survivor’s ability to communicate or say goodbye to the loved one at the end of life.⁹ This may be avoided if the loved one is in hospice care and is not subjected to procedures that impair communication (ie, ventilator use, sedation). Medicare requires that certified hospice programs offer bereavement services for 1 year following patient death.¹⁰ Some hospice providers even offer bereavement services to those not enrolled in hospice. However, evidence indicates that only about 30% of bereaved caregivers take advantage of hospice bereavement services.¹¹ Family physicians may help patients during this process by providing an early referral to hospice services and recommending bereavement counseling. Referral to hospice care can also facilitate discussions that the patient may need to have with the physician or others regarding spirituality. Hospital chaplains can also be referred or get involved with patients and family upon request.

Assessment focal points and tools

As is the case with most mental health concerns, primary care is at the forefront of early assessment. Evaluation of grief is an ongoing process and is multifactorial. One focus is the intensity of the grief. Is the patient reacting to the loss in a way that is disproportionately severe when compared with others who grieve? Another factor is the time elapsed since the loss. If the loss was more than 6 months ago, the patient should have made some progress. Assess grieving patients at around 6 months post-loss to determine how they are handling grief. As mentioned, DSM-5 has criteria for PCBD that providers can use in determining a patient’s grief status. Also needed are assessments for the other DSM-5 issues often associated with loss: depression and post-traumatic stress disorder.

Continue to: While no clinical measure is perfect...

While no clinical measure is perfect, there are tools that can help in assessing patients for the possibility of complicated grief (TABLE 2). Also keep in mind that no measure can make a diagnosis of PCBD, as it is a clinical judgment, not a score on a scale. Furthermore, there is no measure that can accurately predict future complicated grief.⁶ In most busy practices, the Brief Grief Questionnaire (http://www.massgeneral.org/psychiatry/assets/Brief_Grief_Questionnaire.pdf ) would be the easiest tool to administer, but a case could be made for any of the measures.

Treatment hallmarks

The literature base emphasizes that PCBD treatment requires a different focus than that applied to uncomplicated grief. And while most people with major depression will respond to medication and psychotherapy, there are provisos to keep in mind when depression is associated with complicated grief.

Complicated grief treatment (CGT) has been studied extensively.⁶ This treatment combines some of the tenets of evidence-based PTSD treatments, interpersonal therapy for grief, and cognitive behavioral therapy. CGT is generally an individual treatment, although group therapy using some of its tenets can also be effective. According to complicated grief researchers, tasks to accomplish in CGT include establishing a “new normal” following the loss, promoting self-regulation in the grieving, building social connections, and setting aspirational goals for the future.⁶ Other goals are to revisit the world, tell stories of the past, and relive old memories in a more positive light. Common suggestions in CGT that run parallel to conventional thoughts on dealing with grief include increasing time outside the home, getting more involved interpersonally, and increasing mindfulness-based practices.

A second-line evidence-based treatment for PCBD is the use of selective serotonin-reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs).⁶ Some studies have found benefit from SSRI treatment, although the findings are preliminary and modest.¹² One observational study examined patients who had recently experienced loss and were receiving CGT with or without medication. Researchers found that CGT with medication (citalopram) led to a 61% positive response rate while CGT alone led to a 41% response rate.¹³ Thus, findings revealed some benefit to combining an antidepressant with CGT, indicating that SSRIs may be helpful as an adjunct treatment.

THE CASE

Al was treated for complicated grief by his family physician and a psychologist for approximately a year. He responded well to an SSRI and received psychotherapy that focused on the tenets of CGT. Prior to his last psychotherapy visit, he reported leaving the house regularly to dine at restaurants and meet up with co-workers after hours. He said, “I still miss Vera quite a bit, but I know that I feel better.”

CORRESPONDENCE
Scott A. Fields, PhD, 3200 MacCorkle Avenue Southeast, 5th Floor, Robert C. Byrd Clinical Teaching Center, Department of Family Medicine, Charleston, WV 25304; sfields@hsc.wvu.edu

THE CASE

Al* is a 48-year-old patient whose wife, Vera, died of complications from chronic illness 14 months ago. Al thinks about Vera constantly and says he still has difficulty accepting that she is gone. He does not leave the house much anymore and continues to set a place for her at the kitchen table on special occasions. He says, “Some nights in bed, I swear I can hear her in the living room.”

How would you proceed with this patient?

* The names of the patient and his spouse have been changed to protect their identities.

After the loss of a loved one, grief is a natural response to the separation and stress that go along with the death. Most people, after suffering a loss, experience distress that varies in intensity and gradually decreases over time. Thus, the grieving individual does not act as they would normally if they were not bereaved. However, gains are generally made month by month, and most people adjust to the grief and adapt their lives after some time dealing with the absence of the loved one.¹

There’s grief, and then there’s complicated grief

For about 2% to 4% of the population who have experienced a significant loss, complicated grief is an issue.² As its hallmark, complicated grief exceeds the typical amount of time (6-12 months) that people need to recover from a loss. Prevalence has been estimated at 10% to 20% among grieving individuals for whom the death being grieved was that of a romantic partner or child.² At increased risk for this disorder are women older than 60 years, patients diagnosed with depression or substance abuse, individuals under financial strain, and those who have experienced a violent or sudden loss.³

The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, 5th Edition (DSM-5) has conceptualized complicated grief with the name, persistent complex bereavement disorder (PCBD).⁴ While the guidelines for the definition are still in progress, several specified symptoms must have been present for at least 6 months to a year or more (TABLE 1⁴). For instance, the patient has been ruminating about the death, has been unable to accept the death, or has felt shocked or numb. They may also experience anger, have difficulty trusting others, and be preoccupied with the deceased (eg, sense they can hear their lost loved one, feel the loved one’s pain for them). Symptoms of PCBD may also include experiencing vivid reminders of the loss and avoiding situations that bring up thoughts about the death.⁴ (Of note: A grief diagnosis in ICD-10 is captured by the code F43.21; however, there is no specific code for complicated grief or PCBD.)

PCBD is a “condition for further study” in DSM-5; it was omitted from DSM-IV only after much debate. One reason for its omission was concern that clinicians might “pathologize” grief more than it needs to be.⁵ Grief is regarded as a natural process that might be stymied by a formal diagnosis leading to medical treatment.

Shifting the grief diagnosis paradigm

One new development is that recently bereaved patients can be diagnosed with depression if they meet the criteria for that diagnosis. In the past, someone who met criteria for major depression would be excluded from that diagnosis if the depression ensued from grief. DSM-5 no longer makes that distinction.⁴ Given this diagnostic shift, one might wonder about the difference between PCBD and depression, particularly if the patient is a grieving individual with a current diagnosis of depression.⁵

Continue to: Differences between PCBD and major depression

Differences between PCBD and major depression. While antidepressant medication is helpful for patients with moderate-to-severe depression, it has thus far been less helpful for those solely experiencing complicated grief.⁶ The same holds true for traditional psychotherapy. While family physicians can confidently refer people to psychotherapy for depression, it is not as efficacious as focused therapy designed for those with PCBD.⁶

Other differences between PCBD and major depression involve the constructs of guilt and yearning. Depressed patients typically feel guilty about a number of things, while those with complicated grief have specific death-focused guilt.⁷ Depressed people generally do not yearn, while those with grief yearn for their loved one. Finally, and most concerning to clinicians, some patients with PCBD have suicidal thoughts.⁸ While such thoughts in depression are often linked to hopelessness, suicidal thoughts for grieving individuals are generally driven by a desire to be reunited with the deceased loved one.

While suicidal thoughts in depression are generally linked to hopelessness, these thoughts for grieving individuals are generally driven by a desire to be reunited with the deceased loved one.

While these differences may help in making treatment decisions, there can be overlap between depression and complicated grief. As with many mental health diagnoses, major depression and PCBD are not mutually exclusive.⁴

The role of hospice. Another factor sometimes associated with complicated grief is any hindrance to the survivor’s ability to communicate or say goodbye to the loved one at the end of life.⁹ This may be avoided if the loved one is in hospice care and is not subjected to procedures that impair communication (ie, ventilator use, sedation). Medicare requires that certified hospice programs offer bereavement services for 1 year following patient death.¹⁰ Some hospice providers even offer bereavement services to those not enrolled in hospice. However, evidence indicates that only about 30% of bereaved caregivers take advantage of hospice bereavement services.¹¹ Family physicians may help patients during this process by providing an early referral to hospice services and recommending bereavement counseling. Referral to hospice care can also facilitate discussions that the patient may need to have with the physician or others regarding spirituality. Hospital chaplains can also be referred or get involved with patients and family upon request.

Assessment focal points and tools

As is the case with most mental health concerns, primary care is at the forefront of early assessment. Evaluation of grief is an ongoing process and is multifactorial. One focus is the intensity of the grief. Is the patient reacting to the loss in a way that is disproportionately severe when compared with others who grieve? Another factor is the time elapsed since the loss. If the loss was more than 6 months ago, the patient should have made some progress. Assess grieving patients at around 6 months post-loss to determine how they are handling grief. As mentioned, DSM-5 has criteria for PCBD that providers can use in determining a patient’s grief status. Also needed are assessments for the other DSM-5 issues often associated with loss: depression and post-traumatic stress disorder.

Continue to: While no clinical measure is perfect...

While no clinical measure is perfect, there are tools that can help in assessing patients for the possibility of complicated grief (TABLE 2). Also keep in mind that no measure can make a diagnosis of PCBD, as it is a clinical judgment, not a score on a scale. Furthermore, there is no measure that can accurately predict future complicated grief.⁶ In most busy practices, the Brief Grief Questionnaire (http://www.massgeneral.org/psychiatry/assets/Brief_Grief_Questionnaire.pdf ) would be the easiest tool to administer, but a case could be made for any of the measures.

Treatment hallmarks

The literature base emphasizes that PCBD treatment requires a different focus than that applied to uncomplicated grief. And while most people with major depression will respond to medication and psychotherapy, there are provisos to keep in mind when depression is associated with complicated grief.

Complicated grief treatment (CGT) has been studied extensively.⁶ This treatment combines some of the tenets of evidence-based PTSD treatments, interpersonal therapy for grief, and cognitive behavioral therapy. CGT is generally an individual treatment, although group therapy using some of its tenets can also be effective. According to complicated grief researchers, tasks to accomplish in CGT include establishing a “new normal” following the loss, promoting self-regulation in the grieving, building social connections, and setting aspirational goals for the future.⁶ Other goals are to revisit the world, tell stories of the past, and relive old memories in a more positive light. Common suggestions in CGT that run parallel to conventional thoughts on dealing with grief include increasing time outside the home, getting more involved interpersonally, and increasing mindfulness-based practices.

A second-line evidence-based treatment for PCBD is the use of selective serotonin-reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs).⁶ Some studies have found benefit from SSRI treatment, although the findings are preliminary and modest.¹² One observational study examined patients who had recently experienced loss and were receiving CGT with or without medication. Researchers found that CGT with medication (citalopram) led to a 61% positive response rate while CGT alone led to a 41% response rate.¹³ Thus, findings revealed some benefit to combining an antidepressant with CGT, indicating that SSRIs may be helpful as an adjunct treatment.

THE CASE

Al was treated for complicated grief by his family physician and a psychologist for approximately a year. He responded well to an SSRI and received psychotherapy that focused on the tenets of CGT. Prior to his last psychotherapy visit, he reported leaving the house regularly to dine at restaurants and meet up with co-workers after hours. He said, “I still miss Vera quite a bit, but I know that I feel better.”

CORRESPONDENCE
Scott A. Fields, PhD, 3200 MacCorkle Avenue Southeast, 5th Floor, Robert C. Byrd Clinical Teaching Center, Department of Family Medicine, Charleston, WV 25304; sfields@hsc.wvu.edu

THE CASE

Al* is a 48-year-old patient whose wife, Vera, died of complications from chronic illness 14 months ago. Al thinks about Vera constantly and says he still has difficulty accepting that she is gone. He does not leave the house much anymore and continues to set a place for her at the kitchen table on special occasions. He says, “Some nights in bed, I swear I can hear her in the living room.”

How would you proceed with this patient?

* The names of the patient and his spouse have been changed to protect their identities.

After the loss of a loved one, grief is a natural response to the separation and stress that go along with the death. Most people, after suffering a loss, experience distress that varies in intensity and gradually decreases over time. Thus, the grieving individual does not act as they would normally if they were not bereaved. However, gains are generally made month by month, and most people adjust to the grief and adapt their lives after some time dealing with the absence of the loved one.¹

There’s grief, and then there’s complicated grief

For about 2% to 4% of the population who have experienced a significant loss, complicated grief is an issue.² As its hallmark, complicated grief exceeds the typical amount of time (6-12 months) that people need to recover from a loss. Prevalence has been estimated at 10% to 20% among grieving individuals for whom the death being grieved was that of a romantic partner or child.² At increased risk for this disorder are women older than 60 years, patients diagnosed with depression or substance abuse, individuals under financial strain, and those who have experienced a violent or sudden loss.³

The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, 5th Edition (DSM-5) has conceptualized complicated grief with the name, persistent complex bereavement disorder (PCBD).⁴ While the guidelines for the definition are still in progress, several specified symptoms must have been present for at least 6 months to a year or more (TABLE 1⁴). For instance, the patient has been ruminating about the death, has been unable to accept the death, or has felt shocked or numb. They may also experience anger, have difficulty trusting others, and be preoccupied with the deceased (eg, sense they can hear their lost loved one, feel the loved one’s pain for them). Symptoms of PCBD may also include experiencing vivid reminders of the loss and avoiding situations that bring up thoughts about the death.⁴ (Of note: A grief diagnosis in ICD-10 is captured by the code F43.21; however, there is no specific code for complicated grief or PCBD.)

PCBD is a “condition for further study” in DSM-5; it was omitted from DSM-IV only after much debate. One reason for its omission was concern that clinicians might “pathologize” grief more than it needs to be.⁵ Grief is regarded as a natural process that might be stymied by a formal diagnosis leading to medical treatment.

Shifting the grief diagnosis paradigm

One new development is that recently bereaved patients can be diagnosed with depression if they meet the criteria for that diagnosis. In the past, someone who met criteria for major depression would be excluded from that diagnosis if the depression ensued from grief. DSM-5 no longer makes that distinction.⁴ Given this diagnostic shift, one might wonder about the difference between PCBD and depression, particularly if the patient is a grieving individual with a current diagnosis of depression.⁵

Continue to: Differences between PCBD and major depression

Differences between PCBD and major depression. While antidepressant medication is helpful for patients with moderate-to-severe depression, it has thus far been less helpful for those solely experiencing complicated grief.⁶ The same holds true for traditional psychotherapy. While family physicians can confidently refer people to psychotherapy for depression, it is not as efficacious as focused therapy designed for those with PCBD.⁶

Other differences between PCBD and major depression involve the constructs of guilt and yearning. Depressed patients typically feel guilty about a number of things, while those with complicated grief have specific death-focused guilt.⁷ Depressed people generally do not yearn, while those with grief yearn for their loved one. Finally, and most concerning to clinicians, some patients with PCBD have suicidal thoughts.⁸ While such thoughts in depression are often linked to hopelessness, suicidal thoughts for grieving individuals are generally driven by a desire to be reunited with the deceased loved one.

While suicidal thoughts in depression are generally linked to hopelessness, these thoughts for grieving individuals are generally driven by a desire to be reunited with the deceased loved one.

While these differences may help in making treatment decisions, there can be overlap between depression and complicated grief. As with many mental health diagnoses, major depression and PCBD are not mutually exclusive.⁴

The role of hospice. Another factor sometimes associated with complicated grief is any hindrance to the survivor’s ability to communicate or say goodbye to the loved one at the end of life.⁹ This may be avoided if the loved one is in hospice care and is not subjected to procedures that impair communication (ie, ventilator use, sedation). Medicare requires that certified hospice programs offer bereavement services for 1 year following patient death.¹⁰ Some hospice providers even offer bereavement services to those not enrolled in hospice. However, evidence indicates that only about 30% of bereaved caregivers take advantage of hospice bereavement services.¹¹ Family physicians may help patients during this process by providing an early referral to hospice services and recommending bereavement counseling. Referral to hospice care can also facilitate discussions that the patient may need to have with the physician or others regarding spirituality. Hospital chaplains can also be referred or get involved with patients and family upon request.

Assessment focal points and tools

As is the case with most mental health concerns, primary care is at the forefront of early assessment. Evaluation of grief is an ongoing process and is multifactorial. One focus is the intensity of the grief. Is the patient reacting to the loss in a way that is disproportionately severe when compared with others who grieve? Another factor is the time elapsed since the loss. If the loss was more than 6 months ago, the patient should have made some progress. Assess grieving patients at around 6 months post-loss to determine how they are handling grief. As mentioned, DSM-5 has criteria for PCBD that providers can use in determining a patient’s grief status. Also needed are assessments for the other DSM-5 issues often associated with loss: depression and post-traumatic stress disorder.

Continue to: While no clinical measure is perfect...

While no clinical measure is perfect, there are tools that can help in assessing patients for the possibility of complicated grief (TABLE 2). Also keep in mind that no measure can make a diagnosis of PCBD, as it is a clinical judgment, not a score on a scale. Furthermore, there is no measure that can accurately predict future complicated grief.⁶ In most busy practices, the Brief Grief Questionnaire (http://www.massgeneral.org/psychiatry/assets/Brief_Grief_Questionnaire.pdf ) would be the easiest tool to administer, but a case could be made for any of the measures.

Treatment hallmarks

The literature base emphasizes that PCBD treatment requires a different focus than that applied to uncomplicated grief. And while most people with major depression will respond to medication and psychotherapy, there are provisos to keep in mind when depression is associated with complicated grief.

Complicated grief treatment (CGT) has been studied extensively.⁶ This treatment combines some of the tenets of evidence-based PTSD treatments, interpersonal therapy for grief, and cognitive behavioral therapy. CGT is generally an individual treatment, although group therapy using some of its tenets can also be effective. According to complicated grief researchers, tasks to accomplish in CGT include establishing a “new normal” following the loss, promoting self-regulation in the grieving, building social connections, and setting aspirational goals for the future.⁶ Other goals are to revisit the world, tell stories of the past, and relive old memories in a more positive light. Common suggestions in CGT that run parallel to conventional thoughts on dealing with grief include increasing time outside the home, getting more involved interpersonally, and increasing mindfulness-based practices.

A second-line evidence-based treatment for PCBD is the use of selective serotonin-reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs).⁶ Some studies have found benefit from SSRI treatment, although the findings are preliminary and modest.¹² One observational study examined patients who had recently experienced loss and were receiving CGT with or without medication. Researchers found that CGT with medication (citalopram) led to a 61% positive response rate while CGT alone led to a 41% response rate.¹³ Thus, findings revealed some benefit to combining an antidepressant with CGT, indicating that SSRIs may be helpful as an adjunct treatment.

THE CASE

Al was treated for complicated grief by his family physician and a psychologist for approximately a year. He responded well to an SSRI and received psychotherapy that focused on the tenets of CGT. Prior to his last psychotherapy visit, he reported leaving the house regularly to dine at restaurants and meet up with co-workers after hours. He said, “I still miss Vera quite a bit, but I know that I feel better.”

CORRESPONDENCE
Scott A. Fields, PhD, 3200 MacCorkle Avenue Southeast, 5th Floor, Robert C. Byrd Clinical Teaching Center, Department of Family Medicine, Charleston, WV 25304; sfields@hsc.wvu.edu