Exercise therapy in adults with serious mental illness: a systematic review and meta-analysis

Background: Individuals with serious mental illness are at a higher risk of physical ill health. Mortality rates are at least twice those of the general population with higher levels of cardiovascular disease, metabolic disease, diabetes, and respiratory illness. Although genetics may have a role in the physical health problems of these patients, lifestyle and environmental factors such as levels of smoking, obesity, poor diet, and low levels of physical activity also play a prominent part.<p></p> Objective: To conduct a systematic review and meta-analysis of randomised controlled trials comparing the effect of exercise interventions on individuals with serious mental illness.<p></p> Methods: Searches were made in Ovid MEDLINE, Embase, CINAHL, PsycINFO, Biological Abstracts on Ovid, and The Cochrane Library (January 2009, repeated January 2013) through to February 2013.<p></p> Results: Eight RCTs were identified in the systematic search. Six compared exercise versus usual care. One study assessed the effect of a cycling programme versus muscle strengthening and toning exercises. The final study compared the effect of adding specific exercise advice and motivational skills to a simple walking programme. Exercise programmes were noted by their heterogeneity in terms of the type of exercise intervention, setting, and outcome measures. The review found that exercise improved levels of exercise activity (n=13, standard mean difference [SMD] 1.81, CI 0.44 to 3.18, p = 0.01). No beneficial effect was found on negative (n = 84, SMD = -0.54, CI -1.79 to 0.71, p = 0.40) or positive symptoms of schizophrenia (n = 84, SMD = -1.66, CI -3.78 to 0.45, p = 0.12). No change was found on body mass index compared with usual care (n= 151, SMD = -0.24, CI -0.56 to 0.08, p = 0.14), or body weight (n = 77, SMD = 0.13, CI -0.32 to 0.58, p = 0.57). No beneficial effect was found on anxiety and depressive symptoms (n = 94, SMD = -0.26, CI -0.91 to 0.39, p = 0.43), or quality of life in respect of physical and mental domains. One RCT measured the effect of exercise on exercise intensity, attendance, and persistence at a programme. No significant effect was found on these measures.<p></p> Conclusions: This systematic review showed that exercise therapies can lead to a modest increase in levels of exercise activity but overall there was no noticeable change for symptoms of mental health, body mass index, and body weight.<p></p&gt

Long-term effects of oxygen-enriched high-flow nasal cannula treatment in COPD patients with chronic hypoxemic respiratory failure

Line Hust Storgaard,1 Hans-Ulrich Hockey,2 Birgitte Schantz Laursen,3,4 Ulla Møller Weinreich1,3 1Department of Respiratory Diseases, Aalborg University Hospital, Aalborg, Denmark; 2Biometrics Matters Limited, Hamilton, New Zealand; 3Department of Clinical Medicine, Aalborg University, Aalborg, Denmark; 4Clinical Nursing Research Unit, Aalborg University Hospital, Aalborg, Denmark Background: This study investigated the long-term effects of humidified high-flow nasal cannula (HFNC) in COPD patients with chronic hypoxemic respiratory failure treated with long-term oxygen therapy (LTOT).Patients and methods: A total of 200 patients were randomized into usual care ± HFNC. At inclusion, acute exacerbation of COPD (AECOPD) and hospital admissions 1 year before inclusion, modified Medical Research Council (mMRC) score, St George’s Respiratory Questionnaire (SGRQ), forced expiratory volume in 1 second (FEV1), 6-minute walk test (6MWT) and arterial carbon dioxide (PaCO2) were recorded. Patients completed phone interviews at 1, 3 and 9 months assessing mMRC score and AECOPD since the last contact. At on-site visits (6 and 12 months), mMRC, number of AECOPD since last contact and SGRQ were registered and FEV1, FEV1%, PaCO2 and, at 12 months, 6MWT were reassessed. Hospital admissions during the study period were obtained from hospital records. Hours of the use of HFNC were retrieved from the high-flow device.Results: The average daily use of HFNC was 6 hours/day. The HFNC group had a lower AECOPD rate (3.12 versus 4.95/patient/year, p<0.001). Modeled hospital admission rates were 0.79 versus 1.39/patient/year for 12- versus 1-month use of HFNC, respectively (p<0.001). The HFNC group had improved mMRC scores from 3 months onward (p<0.001) and improved SGRQ at 6 and 12 months (p=0.002, p=0.033) and PaCO2 (p=0.005) and 6MWT (p=0.005) at 12 months. There was no difference in all-cause mortality.Conclusion: HFNC treatment reduced AECOPD, hospital admissions and symptoms in COPD patients with hypoxic failure. Keywords: COPD, high-flow heated and humidified oxygen, HFNC, exacerbation, AECOPD, modified Medical Research Council score, mMRC score, 6-minute walk test, 6MW

Ischemic Heart Disease in Chronic Hepatitis B: A Danish Nationwide Cohort Study

Frederik Faergemann Lau,1 Signe Bollerup,1 Frederik Engsig,1 Henrik Krarup,2 Lone Hagens Mygind,3 Jesper Bach Hansen,3 Lone Galmstrup Madsen,4,5 Peter Thielsen,6 Ulla Balslev,7 Lars Nørregaard Nielsen,8 Toke S Barfod,9 Mette Rye Clausen,10 Lise Hobolth,11 Alex Lund Laursen,12 Britta Tarp,13 Birgit T Roege,14 Jan Gerstoft,15 Peer Brehm Christensen,16,17 Nina Weis1,5 1Department of Infectious Diseases, Copenhagen University Hospital-Hvidovre, Hvidovre, Denmark; 2Department of Molecular Diagnostics, Aalborg University Hospital, Aalborg, Denmark; 3Department of Medical Gastroenterology, Aalborg University Hospital, Aalborg, Denmark; 4Department of Medical Gastroenterology, Zealand University Hospital, Koege, Denmark; 5Department of Clinical Medicine, Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark; 6Department of Gastroenterology, Copenhagen University Hospital-Herlev, Herlev, Denmark; 7Department of Infectious Diseases, Copenhagen University Hospital-Herlev, Herlev, Denmark; 8Department of Lung- and Infectious Diseases, North Zealand Hospital-Hilleroed, Hilleroed, Denmark; 9Department of Internal Medicine and Infectious Diseases, Zealand University Hospital, Roskilde, Denmark; 10Department of Medical Gastroenterology and Hepatology, Copenhagen University Hospital-Rigshospitalet, Copenhagen, Denmark; 11Department of Gastroenterology, Copenhagen University Hospital-Hvidovre, Hvidovre, Denmark; 12Department of Infectious Diseases, Aarhus University Hospital, Aarhus, Denmark; 13Diagnostic Center, Silkeborg Regional Hospital, Silkeborg, Denmark; 14Department of Internal Medicine, Kolding Hospital, Kolding, Denmark; 15Department of Infectious Diseases, Copenhagen University Hospital-Rigshospitalet, Copenhagen, Denmark; 16Department of Infectious Diseases, Odense University Hospital, Odense, Denmark; 17Clinical Institute, University of Southern Denmark, Odense, DenmarkCorrespondence: Nina Weis, Department of Infectious Diseases, Copenhagen University Hospital – Hvidovre, Kettegaard Alle 30, Hvidovre, DK-2650, Denmark, Tel +45 3862 3514, Email [email protected]: Data on the risk of ischemic heart disease (IHD) in patients with chronic hepatitis B virus (CHB) are conflicting. Our objective was to address the rate of IHD in patients with CHB compared with individuals without CHB (control-persons) from the general population.Study Design and Setting: We conducted a cohort study of prospectively obtained data from Danish nationwide registries. We produced cumulative incidence curves and calculated the unadjusted incidence rate ratio (IRR) of IHD in persons with and without CHB. The adjusted association between having CHB and developing IHD was examined using a cause-specific Cox regression model.Results: In total, 6472 persons with CHB and 62,251 age- and sex-matched individuals from the general population were followed for 48,840 and 567,456 person-years, respectively, during which 103 (1,59%) with CHB and 1058 (1,70%) control-persons developed IHD. The crude IRR was 1.13 (95% CI: 0.91– 1.39). CHB did not have a statistically significant effect on the rate of IHD after adjusting for several confounding factors (adjusted hazard ratio: 0.96, 95% CI: 0.76– 1.21).Conclusion: In this nationwide cohort study, we did not find any difference between rate of IHD in persons with CHB in comparison with the general population.Keywords: hepatitis B virus, viral infection, atherosclerosis, coronary heart disease, ischemic heart disease, cardiovascular disease, general populatio

Filicide: Mental Illness in Those Who Kill Their Children

BACKGROUND: Most child victims of homicide are killed by a parent or step-parent. This large population study provides a contemporary and detailed description of filicide perpetrators. We examined the relationship between filicide and mental illness at the time of the offence, and care received from mental health services in the past. METHOD: All filicide and filicide-suicide cases in England and Wales (1997–2006) were drawn from a national index of homicide perpetrators. Data on people in contact with mental health services were obtained via a questionnaire from mental health teams. Additional clinical information was collected from psychiatric reports. RESULTS: 6144 people were convicted of homicide, 297 were filicides, and 45 cases were filicide-suicides. 195 (66%) perpetrators were fathers. Mothers were more likely than fathers to have a history of mental disorder (66% v 27%) and symptoms at the time of the offence (53% v 23%), most often affective disorder. 17% of mothers had schizophrenia or other delusional disorders. Overall 8% had schizophrenia. 37% were mentally ill at the time of the offence. 20% had previously been in contact with mental health services, 12% within a year of the offence. CONCLUSION: In the majority of cases, mental illness was not a feature of filicide. However, young mothers and parents with severe mental illness, especially affective and personality disorder who are providing care for children, require careful monitoring by mental health and other support services. Identifying risk factors for filicide requires further research