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New Publications

James S, Lolacher L, Hodge K, Slavec J, Draper A, McPhate N, Houghton K, Guzman J, Tucker L. Mental health screening in pediatric rheumatology: a feasibility study. Pediatr Rheumatol Online J. 2025 Nov 19;23(1):117. doi: 10.1186/s12969-025-01166-4. PMID: 41258048; PMCID: PMC12628978.

The authors examined the feasibility of adding mental screening to routine care in a pediatric rheumatology clinic. Patients aged 8-17 electronically completed PROMIS Pediatric Anxiety v3.0 8a and Pediatric depression v3.0 8a, and both the child and their parent/guardian completed a brief acceptability survey. Patients were provided with resources based on their scores. Rheumatologists also completed a brief practicality questionnaire to assess their perspectives of feasibility. OUt of 44 patients, six had high anxiety scores, and two had high depression scores. Generally, responses were positive in terms of patient and parent/guardian acceptability, and most rheumatologists felt the mental health screening was worthwhile.

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Mermin Z, Olson KR, Gallagher NM. Establishing Normative Anxiety and Depression Levels With PROMIS Parent Proxy Measures. Assessment. 2025 Nov 20:10731911251385766. doi: 10.1177/10731911251385766. Epub ahead of print. PMID: 41263198.

The authors aimed to define normative anxiety and depression using the Parent Proxy v3.0 Anxiety and Depression measures to further assist with score interpretation. The findings generally support the PROMIS v3.0 scoring with some decrease in score variability compared to what would be expected. The authors also provide information on score percentiles by gender and age group.

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Zelicha H, Weitzner ZN, Park S, Babb TG, Bernhardt V, Ahmad FS, Cella D, Chen Y, Livingston EH. Improvement in breathlessness following bariatric surgery as measured by a new heart failure-specific health-related quality of life instrument: a prospective longitudinal study. Surg Obes Relat Dis. 2025 Oct 10:S1550-7289(25)00955-4. doi: 10.1016/j.soard.2025.09.014. Epub ahead of print. PMID: 41241567.

The authors examined use of a 27-item PROMIS Profile developed for those with heart failure in a population with obesity undergoing primary bariatric surgery. Patients completed the measure before surgery and 1 year after surgery. The measured domains included dyspnea, fatigue, physical function, sleep disturbance, pain interference, depression, cognitive function, and ability to participate in social roles and activities. The profile measure was able to detect improvements in multiple domains after surgery. In particular, dyspnea affected most patients before surgery and was significantly improved after surgery.