Isotretinoin was not associated with depression or anxiety:A twelve-week study

AIM: To investigate the frequency and severity of depression and/or anxiety in isotretinoin(ITT)-treated subjects and in a non-ITT control group. METHODS: Sixty consecutively-admitted non-psychiatric outpatients with acne were assigned to either ITT at a fixed dose of 30 mg/d(n = 36) or "other treatment" group(OT; n = 24). The Zung depression or anxiety scales(with cut-off points), two locally developed scales for depression(Ge Depr) and anxiety(Ansilet)(without cut-off points) and clinical global impression scales of acne severity were administered at baseline and at weeks 6 and 12 of treatment. Data was analyzed with the chi-squared test and covariance analysis. RESULTS: Gender distribution, age, marital status and education level did not differ between both treatment groups. The frequency of depression, as defined by the Zung scale cut-off points was similar in the ITT and in the non-ITT groups: Weeks 6 and 12: 8.3% in both groups, P = 0.9. The frequency of anxiety was similar in the groups as well: Week 6: ITT = 8.3%; OT = 0.0%, P > 0.05; week 12: ITT = 11.1%, OT = 4.2%, P > 0.05. The scores in both scales' sets did not differ between the treatment groups at any evaluation time point(P> 0.05). Five ITT-treated subjects(13.8%) and two from the OT-treated group(8.3%) developed clinically significant anxiety and/or depression during treatment(P > 0.05). CONCLUSION: Our study confirms the safety of ITT regarding psychological side effects in regular dermatological patients. Susceptible subjects may exist but their identification requires additional strategies.

Development of Product Design Projects Applying Specifications and Factors Matrix (SFM) as a Support Tool in Higher Education

The application of work strategies taking into account, from the initial stages, all the factors involved in the product design process is considered essential by the researches to generate higher quality products, assess users’ needs and anticipate design problems. This paper presents two approaches of design project development, denominated respectively: projects with imposed specifications and projects with derived specifications and proposes the use of the matrix that integrates specifications and design factors (SFM). This design support tool complements others already used in the development of product concepts by higher education students, increasing the capacity of synthesis and structuring of information in order to facilitate decision-making into the design process. Its elaboration implies understanding of objectives, identifying of factors and establishing of specifications. At the same time, it aims to foster the reflection process and an integrated information analysis. The application of SFM and its contribution to different project approaches are shown in this paper.