Am J Psychiatry 1984; 141:982-985
Copyright © 1984 by American Psychiatric Association
Effect of hospital admission on DST results
EF Coccaro, J Prudic, A Rothpearl and HG Nurnberg
The authors examined the dexamethasone suppression test (DST) responses of
41 patients with primary major depressive disorder and 40 patients with
other psychiatric disorders who were tested within 2-6 days of hospital
admission. Significantly more patients with primary depression who were
tested on day 2 demonstrated abnormal cortisol suppression than those who
were tested on days 3, 4, or 3-6 and than patients with other psychiatric
disorders regardless of test day. These results suggest that patients with
primary depression may be sensitive to psychophysiologic stresses
associated with hospital admission and that the utility of the DST may
require further evaluation vis-a-vis the day of DST administration.
