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A Study of the Dexamethasone Suppression Test in Hospitalized Depressed Patients

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  29 January 2018

David Ames ,
Graham Burrows ,
Brian Davies ,
Kay Maguire  and
Trevor Norman
David Ames
Affiliation:
University of Melbourne, Royal Melbourne Hospital, Victoria 3050, Australia
Graham Burrows
Affiliation:
Austin Hospital University of Melbourne, Royal Melbourne Hospital, Victoria 3050, Australia
Brian Davies
Affiliation:
University of Melbourne, Royal Melbourne Hospital, Victoria 3050, Australia
Kay Maguire
Affiliation:
University of Melbourne, Royal Melbourne Hospital, Victoria 3050, Australia
Trevor Norman
Affiliation:
University of Melbourne, Royal Melbourne Hospital, Victoria 3050, Australia
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Summary

90 patients with a primary depressive illness, admitted consecutively to one psychiatric ward were studied. All patients had the dexamethasone suppression test (DST) done before initial treatment. First treatment response was correlated with the DST results. The non-suppressors, as a group, improved with treatment better than the suppressors. However, unlike in previous studies, no relationship was found between non-suppression and poor response to antidepressant medication.

Type
Research Article
Information
The British Journal of Psychiatry , Volume 144 , Issue 3 , March 1984 , pp. 311 - 313
Copyright
Copyright © 1984 The Royal College of Psychiatrists 

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