The pathways to mental health care of first-episode psychosis patients: a systematic review.

BACKGROUND: Although there is agreement on the association between delay in treatment of psychosis and outcome, less is known regarding the pathways to care of patients suffering from a first psychotic episode. Pathways are complex, involve a diverse range of contacts, and are likely to influence delay in treatment. We conducted a systematic review on the nature and determinants of the pathway to care of patients experiencing a first psychotic episode. METHOD: We searched four databases (Medline, HealthStar, EMBASE, PsycINFO) to identify articles published between 1985 and 2009. We manually searched reference lists and relevant journals and used forward citation searching to identify additional articles. Studies were included if they used an observational design to assess the pathways to care of patients with first-episode psychosis (FEP). RESULTS: Included studies (n=30) explored the first contact in the pathway and/or the referral source that led to treatment. In 13 of 21 studies, the first contact for the largest proportion of patients was a physician. However, in nine of 22 studies, the referral source for the greatest proportion of patients was emergency services. We did not find consistent results across the studies that explored the sex, socio-economic, and/or ethnic determinants of the pathway, or the impact of the pathway to care on treatment delay. CONCLUSIONS: Additional research is needed to understand the help-seeking behavior of patients experiencing a first-episode of psychosis, service response to such contacts, and the determinants of the pathways to mental health care, to inform the provision of mental health services

The incidence of first-episode schizophrenia-spectrum psychosis in adolescents and young adults in Montreal: An estimate from an administrative claims database

Objective: There has been increasing interest in the psychiatric literature on research and service delivery focused on first-episode psychosis (FEP), and accurate information on the incidence of FEP is crucial for the development of services targeting patients in the early stages of illness. We sought to obtain a population-based estimate of the incidence of first-episode schizophrenia-spectrum psychosis (SSP) among adolescents and young adults in Montreal. Methods: Population-based administrative data from physician billings, hospitalizations, pharmacies, and public health clinics were used to estimate the incidence of first-episode SSP in Montreal. A 3-year period (2004-2006) was used to identify patients with SSP aged 14 to 25 years. We used a 4- to 6-year clearance period to remove patients with a history of any psychotic disorder or prescription for an antipsychotic. Results: We identified 456 patients with SSP, yielding a standardized annual incidence of 82.9 per 100 000 for males (95% CI 73.7 to 92.1), and 32.2 per 100 000 for females (95% CI 26.7 to 37.8). Using ecologic indicators of material and social deprivation, we found a higher-incidence proportion of SSP among people living in the most deprived areas, relative to people living in the least deprived areas. Conclusions: Clinical samples obtained from psychiatric services are unlikely to capture all treatment-seeking patients, and epidemiologic surveys have resource-intensive constraints, making this approach challenging for rare forms of psychopathology; therefore, population-based administrative data may be a useful tool for studying the frequency of psychotic disorders

Determinants of negative pathways to care and their impact on service disengagement in first-episode psychosis.

PURPOSE: Although there have been numerous studies on pathways to care in first-episode psychosis (FEP), few have examined the determinants of the pathway to care and its impact on subsequent engagement with mental health services. METHODS: Using a sample of 324 FEP patients from a catchment area-based early intervention (EI) program in Montréal, we estimated the association of several socio-demographic, clinical, and service-level factors with negative pathways to care and treatment delay. We also assessed the impact of the pathway to care on time to disengagement from EI services. RESULTS: Few socio-demographic or clinical factors were predictive of negative pathways to care. Rather, service-level factors, such as contact with primary care providers, have a stronger impact on patterns of health service use across multiple indicators. Patients who were in contact with primary care had a reduced likelihood of negative pathways to care, but also had longer referral delays to EI services. Socio-demographic and clinical factors were more relevant for predicting subsequent engagement with EI services, and indicators of negative pathways to care were not associated with service disengagement. CONCLUSIONS: Primary care providers may be an efficacious target for interventions aimed at reducing overall treatment delay. Increasing the uptake of primary care services may also reduce the likelihood of negative pathways to care. Our findings draw attention to the need for further investigations of the role that the primary care system plays in early intervention for FEP, and strategies for supporting service providers in this role

Trajectories of self-rated health in people with diabetes: Associations with functioning in a prospective community sample

© 2013 Schmitz et al. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.Background: Self-rated health (SRH) is a single-item measure that is one of the most widely used measures of general health in population health research. Relatively little is known about changes and the trajectories of SRH in people with chronic medical conditions. The aims of the present study were to identify and describe longitudinal trajectories of self-rated health (SRH) status in people with diabetes. Methods: A prospective community study was carried out between 2008 and 2011. SRH was assessed at baseline and yearly at follow-ups (n=1288). Analysis was carried out through trajectory modeling. The trajectory groups were subsequently compared at 4 years follow-up with respect to functioning. Results: Four distinct trajectories of SRH were identified: 1) 72.2% of the participants were assigned to a persistently good SRH trajectory; 2) 10.1% were assigned to a persistently poor SRH trajectory; 3) mean SRH scores changed from good to poor for one group (7.3%); while 4) mean SRH scores changed from poor to medium/good for another group (10.4%). Those with a persistently poor perception of health status were at higher risk for poor functioning at 4 years follow-up than those whose SRH scores decreased from good to poor. Conclusions: SRH is an important predictor for poor functioning in diabetes, but the trajectory of SRH seems to be even more important. Health professionals should pay attention to not only SRH per se, but also changes in SRH over time.This work was supported by Operating Grant MOP-84574 from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR). GG was supported by a doctoral fellowship from the CIHR. The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript

Intervention précoce pour la psychose : concepts, connaissances actuelles et orientations futures

Cet article fournit un survol de la logique de l’intervention précoce pour psychose, de ses fondements théoriques et de la littérature essentielle sur le concept. L’intervention précoce repose sur l’hypothèse de la période critique, qui vient accentuer l’importance des premiers stades de la maladie, et sur les résultats d’études dans le domaine, qui suggère que la durée d’une psychose non traitée en influence le pronostic. L’intervention précoce facilite l’accès à un traitement spécialisé adapté à la phase de la maladie par un processus de recommandations médicales plus ouvert, des délais rapides et l’éducation du public et des praticiens sur la psychose. L’intervention précoce, qui dure généralement deux ans à partir du dépistage, comprend une prise en charge intensive et des médicaments antipsychotiques à faible dose. L’accent est mis sur le fonctionnement social, l’intervention familiale, l’attention précoce aux troubles connexes ainsi qu’une alliance thérapeutique entre le jeune et sa famille. Selon les données scientifiques disponibles, une telle intervention donne de meilleurs résultats que les soins typiquement offerts. Les critiques du concept visent la qualité des études en sa faveur, sa mise en oeuvre, la répartition des ressources en intervention précoce et son utilité pour les personnes présentant un risque élevé de psychose. En termes de disponibilité et d’élaboration de politiques en intervention précoce, le Royaume-Uni détient une avance certaine, alors que le Canada se situe au milieu, et les États-Unis au bas de l’échelle. Au Québec, les résultats varient et d’autres études et investissements sont nécessaires. Récemment, le concept d’intervention précoce a servi d’exemple à des mesures plus importantes visant la transformation des soins de santé mentale des jeunes, ce qui constitue une toute nouvelle percée au Canada.Objectives: This paper seeks to provide an overview of the motives, rationale, theoretical underpinnings and foundational literature of the early intervention movement for psychoses. It also seeks to review the current status of the field, highlight its significant developments and identify its emergent trends.Methods: This paper begins by contextualizing the burden of psychosis. It then traces the origins of the early intervention movement and surveys the seminal literature that established and shapes the field. It describes the movement’s characteristic elements, types, approaches, strengths, criticisms and trajectories in select Western nations. It closes with a presentation of how the early intervention movement is informing broader endeavours to transform youth mental health.Results: We find that the early intervention movement is predicated on the critical period hypothesis that emphasizes the significance of the early stages of the illness; and on findings that the duration of untreated psychosis influences prognoses. Early intervention redresses this situation by facilitating access to specialized, phase-specific treatment. Access is enhanced through open referral, fast response times, and public and practitioner education. Ideally, the intervention, provided for the first two years after detection, features intensive case management; low-dose antipsychotic medication; an emphasis on social functioning; family intervention; early attention to comorbid concerns; and due regard for the needs and priorities of youth and their families. Evidence suggests that specialized early intervention yields better outcomes than routine care. The cost-effectiveness of such services has not yet been definitely investigated. Criticisms of early intervention pertain to the quality of evidence for, the manner of implementation of, the allocation of resources to early intervention and its utility for persons at high risk for developing psychosis. We also identify advocacy within the field for extending early intervention to the first five years of the course of psychosis.Conclusion: We conclude that the status of the early intervention movement (in terms of availability and policy) in Western public healthcare systems can be resolved into a spectrum. The United Kingdom is shown to be the leader while Canada appears at the middle of the spectrum (with the United States bringing up the rear). In the Quebec context, the picture is found to be mixed and recommendations for further research and investment are made. Finally, an examination is undertaken of how the early intervention for psychosis movement has provided the impetus for and dovetails into the larger effort to transform youth mental healthcare in general, a development that is in its nascent stages in Canada

Identifying persistent negative symptoms in first episode psychosis

Abstract Background Although persistent negative symptoms (PNS) are known to contribute significantly to poor functional outcome, they remain poorly understood. We examined the heuristic value of various PNS definitions and their respective prevalence in patients with first episode psychosis (FEP). We also contrasted those definitions to the Proxy for the Deficit Syndrome (PDS) to identify deficit syndrome (DS) in the same FEP cohort. Methods One hundred and fifty-eight FEP patients were separated into PNS and non-PNS groups based on ratings from the Scale for Assessment of Negative Symptoms (SANS). PNS was defined in the following ways: 1) having a score of 3 or greater on at least 1 global subscale of the SANS (PNS_1); 2) having a score of 3 or more on at least 2 global subscales of the SANS (PNS_2); and 3) having a score of 3 or more on a combination of specific SANS subscales and items (PNS_H). For all three definitions, symptoms had to be present for a minimum of six consecutive months. Negative symptoms were measured upon entry to the program and subsequently at 1,2,3,6,9 and 12 months. Functional outcome was quantified at first assessment and month 12. Results PNS prevalence: PNS_1 (27%); PNS_2 (13.2%); PNS_H (13.2%). The prevalence of DS was found to be 3% when applying the PDS. Regardless of the definition being applied, when compared to non-PNS, patients in the PNS group were shown to have significantly worse functioning at month 12. All three PNS definitions showed similar associations with functional outcome at month 12. Conclusion Persistent negative symptoms are present in about 27% of FEP patients with both affective and non-affective psychosis. Although there has previously been doubt as to whether PNS represents a separate subdomain of negative symptoms, the current study suggests that PNS may be more applicable to FEP when compared to DS. Although all three PNS definitions were comparable in predicting functional outcome, we suggest that the PNS definition employed is dependent on the clinical or research objective at hand.</p