Self-reported perinatal depressive symptoms and postnatal symptom severity after treatment with antidepressants in pregnancy: a cross-sectional study in 12 European countries using the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale

Purpose: To explore the prevalence of self-reported antenatal and postnatal depressive symptoms by severity across multiple countries and the association between antidepressant treatment in pregnancy and postnatal symptom severity. Patients and methods: Multinational web-based study in 12 European countries (n=8069). Uniform data collection was ensured via an electronic questionnaire. Pregnant women at any gestational week and mothers of children with less than one year of age, could participate. We used the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale (EPDS) to measure prevalence of antenatal and postnatal depressive symptoms according to severity, which were corrected by survey-weight adjustment (descriptive analysis). Within mothers with a psychiatric disorder (n=173), we estimated the association between antidepressant treatment in pregnancy and postnatal depressive symptom severity, as standardized EPDS mean scores, via inverse probability of treatment weight (association analysis). Results: In the descriptive analysis (n=8069), the period prevalence of moderate to very severe depressive symptoms was higher in the Western and Eastern regions relative to the Northern, both in the ante- (6.8-7.5% vs 4.3%) and postnatal period (7.6% vs 4.7%). One in two mothers with psychiatric disorders used antidepressant in pregnancy (86 out of 173). In the association analysis, women medicated at any time during pregnancy (adjusted β: -0.34, 95% CI: -0.66, -0.02) had a significant postnatal symptom severity reduction compared with the nonmedicated counterpart. This effect was larger (β: -0.74, 95% CI: -1.24, -0.24) when the analysis was restricted to mothers within six months after childbirth. Conclusions: The prevalence of self-reported antenatal and postnatal depressive symptoms differs across European countries. Among women with psychiatric disorders, those who had been on treatment with antidepressants during pregnancy were less likely to report postnatal depressive symptoms, particularly within the six-month period after childbirth, compared to the nonmedicated counterpart

Impact of Silica Surface Nanoconfinement on the Microstructure of Alkoxysilane Layers Grafted by Supercritical Carbon Dioxide

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High variability in the dosing of commonly used antibiotics revealed by a Europe-wide point prevalence study: implications for research and dissemination

BACKGROUND: Antibiotic dosing in neonates varies between countries and centres, suggesting suboptimal exposures for some neonates. We aimed to describe variations and factors influencing the variability in the dosing of frequently used antibiotics in European NICUs to help define strategies for improvement. METHODS: A sub-analysis of the European Study of Neonatal Exposure to Excipients point prevalence study was undertaken. Demographic data of neonates receiving any antibiotic on the study day within one of three two-week periods from January to June 2012, the dose, dosing interval and route of administration of each prescription were recorded. The British National Formulary for Children (BNFC) and Neofax were used as reference sources. Risk factors for deviations exceeding ±25% of the relevant BNFC dosage recommendation were identified by multivariate logistic regression analysis. RESULTS: In 89 NICUs from 21 countries, 586 antibiotic prescriptions for 342 infants were reported. The twelve most frequently used antibiotics – gentamicin, penicillin G, ampicillin, vancomycin, amikacin, cefotaxime, ceftazidime, meropenem, amoxicillin, metronidazole, teicoplanin and flucloxacillin – covered 92% of systemic prescriptions. Glycopeptide class, GA <32 weeks, 5(th) minute Apgar score <5 and geographical region were associated with deviation from the BNFC dosage recommendation. While the doses of penicillins exceeded recommendations, antibiotics with safety concerns followed (gentamicin) or were dosed below (vancomycin) recommendations. CONCLUSIONS: The current lack of compliance with existing dosing recommendations for neonates needs to be overcome through the conduct of well-designed clinical trials with a limited number of antibiotics to define pharmacokinetics/pharmacodynamics, efficacy and safety in this population and by efficient dissemination of the results. ELECTRONIC SUPPLEMENTARY MATERIAL: The online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s12887-015-0359-y) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users

Morphological evolution of alteration layers formed during nuclear glass alteration: new evidence of a gel as a diffusive barrier

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