50 BSI-18 as a Measure of Psychological Distress Across Different Domains in TMS Patients

• Published in: Journal of the International Neuropsychological Society 2023-11, Vol.29 (s1), p.836-837
• Main Authors: Gamboa, Bruno N., Hodges, Kathleen, Gee, Stephanie C., Madore, Michelle R., Philip, Noah S., Andrew Kozel, F., Walker, Nicole C.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Anxiety; Clinical trials; Cognitive ability; Magnetic fields; Mental depression; Mood & Anxiety Disorders; Patients; Poster Session 09: Psychiatric Disorders | Mood & Anxiety Disorders | Addiction | Social Cognition | Cognitive Neuroscience | Emotional and Social Processing; Statistical analysis; Transcranial magnetic stimulation
• ISSN: 1355-6177; 1469-7661
• DOI: 10.1017/S1355617723010366

Objective:Transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) is an effective treatment for individuals with pharmacoresistant major depressive disorder (MDD), yet identifying which patients best respond remains an important area of inquiry. The Brief Symptom Inventory (BSI-18) serves as a screen for psychological distress, providing measures across three separate domains (e.g., somatization, depression, and anxiety) and one composite score (i.e., global severity index). The psychometric properties of the BSI-18 have been validated across multiple studies; however, it has sparsely been used to track changes in patient symptoms in response to intervention. Assessing patient symptom severity across these domains is imperative since these symptoms can negatively influence cognitive functioning. Accordingly, the current study utilized the BSI-18 to measure psychological distress across these different domains in patients receiving TMS treatment. We hypothesized that all domains of the BSI-18 would see a significant decrease after treatment, that elevated scores in specific domains would predict a less favorable response to treatment, and that measurement of depressive symptoms will be consistent across measures of similar scope.Participants and Methods:Veterans (n=94) with MDD and met standard clinical TMS criteria were administered the BSI-18 before and after receiving an adequate dose of treatment (e.g., 30 sessions). Paired Samples T-test were used to compare the pre-treatment and post-treatment scores across domains.Results:The results of paired sample t-tests indicated a statistically significant reduction in measures of global psychological distress (t(93) = 7.99, p < .001, Cohen's d =.82), as well as depressive (t(93) = 8.34, p < .001, d = .86), anxious (t(93) = 7.64, p < .001, d = .79), and somatic symptoms (t(92) = 5.29, p < .001, d = .55) after receiving treatment. Individuals with elevated levels of anxiety (e.g., BSI-A>63) saw a significant reduction in depressive (t(62) = 8.15, p < .001, d = 1.03), anxious (t(62) = 8.34, p < .001, d = 1.05) and somatic (t(61) = 4.94, p < .001, d = .63) symptoms. Lastly, two measures of depressive symptoms, the BSI-D and PHQ-9, had a statistically significant strong, positive relationship before (r=.66) and after (r=.88) treatment (all n=65 and p