Am J Psychiatry 1983; 140:589-591
Copyright © 1983 by American Psychiatric Association
The dexamethasone suppression test in adolescent psychiatric inpatients
SD Targum and AE Capodanno
The dexamethasone suppression test (DST) was administered to 120 adolescent
psychiatric patients at the time of hospitalization, and cortisol levels
were measured at 4:00 p.m. and 11:30 p.m. on the day after a 1-mg oral dose
of dexamethasone was given. Failure to suppress serum cortisol (i.e.,
cortisol level less than 5 micrograms/dl) was noted in 25 patients: 7 of 17
patients who met DSM-III criteria for major depressive disorder, 7 of 38
patients with dysthymic disorder, 7 of 47 patients with conduct disorder,
and 4 of 15 schizophreniform patients. The predictive value of the DST for
major depressive disorder was only 28%. Although adolescent patients with
abnormal DSTs may eventually develop affective symptoms consistent with a
major depressive disorder, the DST did not discriminate between major
depression and other psychiatric diagnoses in these hospitalized
adolescents.
