The Concise Health Risk Tracking-Self Report: Psychometrics within a placebo-controlled antidepressant trial among depressed outpatients

• Published in: Journal of psychopharmacology (Oxford) 2019-02, Vol.33 (2), p.185-193
• Main Authors: Trombello, Joseph M, Killian, Michael O, Grannemann, Bruce D, Rush, Augustus John, Mayes, Taryn L, Parsey, Ramin V, McInnis, Melvin, Jha, Manish K, Ali, Aasia, McGrath, Patrick J, Adams, Phil, Oquendo, Maria A, Weissman, Myrna M, Carmody, Thomas J, Trivedi, Madhukar H
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Adult; Antidepressants; Antidepressive Agents - therapeutic use; Clinical trials; Depressive Disorder, Major - drug therapy; Depressive Disorder, Major - psychology; Double-Blind Method; Factor analysis; Female; Health risks; Humans; Male; Mental depression; Middle Aged; Outpatients; Psychiatric Status Rating Scales; Psychometrics; Quantitative psychology; Reproducibility of Results; Self Report; Sensitivity; Sertraline; Sertraline - therapeutic use; Social interactions; Suicidal Ideation; Suicide; Young Adult
• ISSN: 0269-8811; 1461-7285
• DOI: 10.1177/0269881118817156

Background/aims: While substantial prior research has evaluated the psychometric properties of the 12-item Concise Health Risk Tracking-Self Report (CHRT-SR12), a measure of suicide propensity and suicidal thoughts, no prior research has investigated its factor structure, sensitivity to change over time, and other psychometric properties in a placebo-controlled trial of antidepressant medication, nor determined whether symptoms change throughout treatment. Methods: Participants in the multi-site Establishing Moderators and Biosignatures of Antidepressant Response in Clinical Care (EMBARC) study (n=278) provided data to evaluate the factor structure and sensitivity to change over time of the CHRT-SR12 through eight weeks of a clinical trial in which participants received either placebo or antidepressant medication (sertraline). Results/Outcomes: Factor analysis confirmed two factors: propensity (comprised of first-order factors including pessimism, helplessness, social support, and despair) and suicidal thoughts. Internal consistency (α’s ranged from 0.69–0.92) and external validity were both acceptable, with the total score and propensity factor scores significantly correlated with total scores and single-item suicidal-thoughts scores on the self-report Quick Inventory of Depressive Symptoms and the clinician-rated 17-item Hamilton Rating Scale for Depression. Through analyzing CHRT-SR12 changes over eight treatment weeks, the total score and both the factors decreased regardless of baseline suicidal thoughts. Change in clinician-rated suicidal thoughts was reflected by change in both the total score and propensity factor score. Conclusions/interpretation: These results confirm the reliability, validity, and applicability of the CHRT-SR12 to a placebo-controlled clinical trial of depressed outpatients receiving antidepressant medication.