Longitudinal associations between stroke and psychosis: a population-based study

BACKGROUND: The co-occurrence of stroke and psychosis is a serious neuropsychiatric condition but little is known about the course of this comorbidity. We aimed to estimate longitudinal associations between stroke and psychosis over 10 years. METHODS: A 10-year population-based study using data from the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing. A structured health assessment recorded (i) first-occurrence stroke and (ii) psychosis, at each wave. Each were considered exposures and outcomes in separate analyses. Logistic and Cox proportional hazards regression and Kaplan-Meier methods were used. Models were adjusted for demographic and health behaviour covariates, with missing covariates imputed using random forest multiple imputation. RESULTS: Of 19 808 participants, 24 reported both stroke and psychosis (median Wave 1 age 63, 71% female, 50% lowest quintile of net financial wealth) at any point during follow-up. By 10 years, the probability of an incident first stroke in participants with psychosis was 21.4% [95% confidence interval (CI) 12.1-29.6] compared to 8.3% (95% CI 7.8-8.8) in those without psychosis (absolute difference: 13.1%; 95% CI 20.8-4.3, log rank p < 0.001; fully-adjusted hazard ratio (HR): 3.57; 95% CI 2.18-5.84). The probability of reporting incident psychosis in participants with stroke was 2.3% (95% CI 1.4-3.2) compared to 0.9% (95% CI 0.7-1.1) in those without (absolute difference: 1.4%; 95% CI 0.7-2.1, log rank p < 0.001; fully-adjusted HR: 4.98; 95% CI 2.55-9.72). CONCLUSIONS: Stroke is an independent predictor of psychosis (and vice versa), after adjustment for potential confounders

Prescribing of antipsychotics for people diagnosed with severe mental illness in UK primary care 2000–2019: 20-year investigation of who receives treatment, with which agents and at what doses

Background: Contemporary data relating to antipsychotic prescribing in UK primary care for patients diagnosed with severe mental illness (SMI) are lacking. // Aims: To describe contemporary patterns of antipsychotic prescribing in UK primary care for patients diagnosed with SMI. // Method: Cohort study of patients with an SMI diagnosis (i.e. schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, other non-organic psychoses) first recorded in primary care between 2000 and 2017 derived from Clinical Practice Research Datalink. Patients were considered exposed to antipsychotics if prescribed at least one antipsychotic in primary care between 2000 and 2019. We compared characteristics of patients prescribed and not prescribed antipsychotics; calculated annual prevalence rates for antipsychotic prescribing; and computed average daily antipsychotic doses stratified by patient characteristics. // Results: Of 309 378 patients first diagnosed with an SMI in primary care between 2000 and 2017, 212,618 (68.7%) were prescribed an antipsychotic between 2000 and 2019. Antipsychotic prescribing prevalence was 426 (95% CI, 420–433) per 1000 patients in the year 2000, reaching a peak of 550 (547–553) in 2016, decreasing to 470 (468–473) in 2019. The proportion prescribed antipsychotics was higher among patients diagnosed with schizophrenia (81.0%) than with bipolar disorder (64.6%) and other non-organic psychoses (65.7%). Olanzapine, quetiapine, risperidone and aripiprazole accounted for 78.8% of all antipsychotic prescriptions. Higher mean olanzapine equivalent total daily doses were prescribed to patients with the following characteristics: schizophrenia diagnosis, ethnic minority status, male gender, younger age and greater relative deprivation. // Conclusions: Antipsychotic prescribing is dominated by olanzapine, quetiapine, risperidone and aripiprazole. We identified potential disparities in both the receipt and prescribed doses of antipsychotics across subgroups. To inform efforts to optimise prescribing and ensure equity of care, further research is needed to understand why certain groups are prescribed higher doses and are more likely to be treated with long-acting injectable antipsychotics compared with others

Can the UK 24-item family satisfaction in the intensive care unit questionnaire be used to evaluate quality improvement strategies aimed at improving family satisfaction with the ICU? A qualitative study

Acknowledgements We thank the participants in the FREE and EBCD studies who gave their time to participate. We also thank Professor David Harrison for extracting the open-text comments from the FREE study database. Funding The author(s) disclosed receipt of the following financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article: The FREE Study was funded by the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) Health Services and Delivery Research (HS&DR) Programme (11/2003/56). The EBCD study was funded by the NIHR HS&DR Programme (10/1009/14). The funder had no involvement in study design; in collection, analysis and interpretation of data; in the writing of this paper; or in the decision to submit the article for publication. LH is supported by the NIHR Oxford Biomedical Research Centre (BRC). LL was employed by the Nuffield Department of Primary Care Health Sciences, University of Oxford and supported by the NIHR Oxford BRC during the period the work was conducted. BC is funded by an NIHR Clinical Trials Fellowship (CTF-2017-06-016). The views and opinions expressed therein are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect those of the NIHR, NHS or the Department of Health and Social Care.Peer reviewedPostprin

Sudden gains in modular CBT for mental health disorders in children and young people with epilepsy

BackgroundSudden gains (rapid, large, stable improvements in symptoms) are common in psychological therapy and are associated with favourable outcomes, but no studies have investigated sudden gains in children and young people (CYP) with a chronic physical condition.MethodsWithin-group study nested in the Mental Health Intervention for Children with Epilepsy (MICE) randomised trial of modular cognitive-behavioural therapy for CYP with epilepsy, utilising goal-based outcomes (GBOs) and standardised session-by-session measures (including the brief parental self-efficacy scale and Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire [SDQ] session-by-session measure). The occurrence and potential predictors of sudden gains, and the association of sudden gains with outcomes at final session and follow-up were investigated using multivariable logistic and linear regression.ResultsAmong 147 participants (mean age: 10.4 years, 49% female) and across nine measures, 39% experienced between two and four sudden gains, most frequently on the mean GBO (occurrence, 44.9%). Characteristics such as intellectual disability, pretreatment scores and the number of sessions received were associated with significantly greater odds of sudden gains in some measures, whereas nonwhite ethnicity and nonemployment of the primary caregiver were associated with reduced odds. Sudden gains were associated with favourable final-session scores for mean GBO (GBO, adjusted mean difference [aMD]: 0.9, 95% CI: 0.3 to 1.6, p = .004, D = 0.63), parental self-efficacy (aMD: 1.2, 95% CI, 0.1 to 2.4, p = .027, D = 0.37) and the SDQ session-by-session measure (aMD: -1.7, 95% CI, −3.0 to −0.3, p = .014, D = -0.44), but not with 6-month adjusted SDQ total difficulties scores.ConclusionsSudden gains were common in this population, occurring most frequently on personalised measures, and were associated with favourable final-session scores. Personalised measures taken at each session with a focus on sudden gains may be a useful adjunct to treatment. Future research and clinical practice should investigate how to increase the occurrence of sudden gains in CYP with long-term conditions receiving psychological therapy

Schizophrenia and cardiometabolic abnormalities:A Mendelian randomization study

Background: Individuals with a diagnosis of schizophrenia are known to be at high risk of premature mortality due to poor physical health, especially cardiovascular disease, diabetes, and obesity. The reasons for these physical health outcomes within this patient population are complex. Despite well-documented cardiometabolic adverse effects of certain antipsychotic drugs and lifestyle factors, schizophrenia may have an independent effect. Aims: To investigate if there is evidence that schizophrenia is causally related to cardiometabolic traits (blood lipids, anthropometric traits, glycaemic traits, blood pressure) and vice versa using bi-directional two-sample Mendelian randomization (MR) analysis. Methods: We used 185 genetic variants associated with schizophrenia from the latest Psychiatric Genomics Consortium GWAS (n = 130,644) in the forward analysis (schizophrenia to cardiometabolic traits) and genetic variants associated with the cardiometabolic traits from various consortia in the reverse analysis (cardiometabolic traits to schizophrenia), both at genome-wide significance (5 × 10−8). The primary method was inverse-variance weighted MR, supported by supplementary methods such as MR-Egger, as well as median and mode-based methods. Results: In the forward analysis, schizophrenia was associated with slightly higher low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol levels (0.013 SD change in LDL per log odds increase in schizophrenia risk, 95% CI, 0.001–0.024 SD; p = 0.027) and total cholesterol levels (0.013 SD change in total cholesterol per log odds increase in schizophrenia risk, 95% CI, 0.002–0.025 SD; p = 0.023). However, these associations did not survive multiple testing corrections. There was no evidence of a causal effect of cardiometabolic traits on schizophrenia in the reverse analysis. Discussion: Dyslipidemia and obesity in schizophrenia patients are unlikely to be driven primarily by schizophrenia itself. Therefore, lifestyle, diet, antipsychotic drugs side effects, as well as shared mechanisms for metabolic dysfunction and schizophrenia such as low-grade systemic inflammation could be possible reasons for the apparent increased risk of metabolic disease in people with schizophrenia. Further research is needed to examine the shared immune mechanism hypothesis.</p

Sudden gains in modular CBT for mental health disorders in children and young people with epilepsy

Background: Sudden gains (rapid, large, stable improvements in symptoms) are common in psychological therapy and are associated with favourable outcomes, but no studies have investigated sudden gains in children and young people (CYP) with a chronic physical condition.// Methods: Within-group study nested in the Mental Health Intervention for Children with Epilepsy (MICE) randomised trial of modular cognitive-behavioural therapy for CYP with epilepsy, utilising goal-based outcomes (GBOs) and standardised session-by-session measures (including the brief parental self-efficacy scale and Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire [SDQ] session-by-session measure). The occurrence and potential predictors of sudden gains, and the association of sudden gains with outcomes at final session and follow-up were investigated using multivariable logistic and linear regression.// Results: Among 147 participants (mean age: 10.4 years, 49% female) and across nine measures, 39% experienced between two and four sudden gains, most frequently on the mean GBO (occurrence, 44.9%). Characteristics such as intellectual disability, pretreatment scores and the number of sessions received were associated with significantly greater odds of sudden gains in some measures, whereas nonwhite ethnicity and nonemployment of the primary caregiver were associated with reduced odds. Sudden gains were associated with favourable final-session scores for mean GBO (GBO, adjusted mean difference [aMD]: 0.9, 95% CI: 0.3 to 1.6, p = .004, D = 0.63), parental self-efficacy (aMD: 1.2, 95% CI, 0.1 to 2.4, p = .027, D = 0.37) and the SDQ session-by-session measure (aMD: -1.7, 95% CI, −3.0 to −0.3, p = .014, D = -0.44), but not with 6-month adjusted SDQ total difficulties scores.// Conclusions: Sudden gains were common in this population, occurring most frequently on personalised measures, and were associated with favourable final-session scores. Personalised measures taken at each session with a focus on sudden gains may be a useful adjunct to treatment. Future research and clinical practice should investigate how to increase the occurrence of sudden gains in CYP with long-term conditions receiving psychological therapy

Schizophrenia and cardiometabolic abnormalities: A Mendelian randomization study

Background: Individuals with a diagnosis of schizophrenia are known to be at high risk of premature mortality due to poor physical health, especially cardiovascular disease, diabetes, and obesity. The reasons for these physical health outcomes within this patient population are complex. Despite well-documented cardiometabolic adverse effects of certain antipsychotic drugs and lifestyle factors, schizophrenia may have an independent effect.Aims: To investigate if there is evidence that schizophrenia is causally related to cardiometabolic traits (blood lipids, anthropometric traits, glycaemic traits, blood pressure) and vice versa using bi-directional two-sample Mendelian randomization (MR) analysis.Methods: We used 185 genetic variants associated with schizophrenia from the latest Psychiatric Genomics Consortium GWAS (n = 130,644) in the forward analysis (schizophrenia to cardiometabolic traits) and genetic variants associated with the cardiometabolic traits from various consortia in the reverse analysis (cardiometabolic traits to schizophrenia), both at genome-wide significance (5 × 10−8). The primary method was inverse-variance weighted MR, supported by supplementary methods such as MR-Egger, as well as median and mode-based methods.Results: In the forward analysis, schizophrenia was associated with slightly higher low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol levels (0.013 SD change in LDL per log odds increase in schizophrenia risk, 95% CI, 0.001–0.024 SD; p = 0.027) and total cholesterol levels (0.013 SD change in total cholesterol per log odds increase in schizophrenia risk, 95% CI, 0.002–0.025 SD; p = 0.023). However, these associations did not survive multiple testing corrections. There was no evidence of a causal effect of cardiometabolic traits on schizophrenia in the reverse analysis.Discussion: Dyslipidemia and obesity in schizophrenia patients are unlikely to be driven primarily by schizophrenia itself. Therefore, lifestyle, diet, antipsychotic drugs side effects, as well as shared mechanisms for metabolic dysfunction and schizophrenia such as low-grade systemic inflammation could be possible reasons for the apparent increased risk of metabolic disease in people with schizophrenia. Further research is needed to examine the shared immune mechanism hypothesis

A systematic review of pharmacogenetic testing to guide antipsychotic treatment

Pharmacogenomics could optimize antipsychotic treatment by preventing adverse drug reactions, improving treatment efficacy or relieving the cost burden on the healthcare system. Here we conducted a systematic review to investigate whether pharmacogenetic testing in individuals undergoing antipsychotic treatment influences clinical or economic outcomes. On 12 January 2024, we searched MEDLINE, EMBASE, PsycINFO and Cochrane Centrale Register of Controlled Trials. The results were summarized using a narrative approach and summary tables. In total, 13 studies were eligible for inclusion in the systematic review. The current evidence base is either in favor of pharmacogenetics-guided prescribing or showed no difference between pharmacogenetics and treatment as usual for clinical and economic outcomes. In the future, we require randomized controlled trials with sufficient sample sizes that provide recommendations for patients who take antipsychotics based on a broad, multigene panel, with consistent and comparable clinical outcomes

Family satisfaction with critical care in the UK: a multicentre cohort study.

OBJECTIVE: To assess family satisfaction with intensive care units (ICUs) in the UK using the Family Satisfaction in the Intensive Care Unit 24-item (FS-ICU-24) questionnaire, and to investigate how characteristics of patients and their family members impact on family satisfaction. DESIGN: Prospective cohort study nested within a national clinical audit database. SETTING: Stratified, random sample of 20 adult general ICUs participating in the Intensive Care National Audit & Research Centre Case Mix Programme. PARTICIPANTS: Family members of patients staying at least 24 hours in ICU were recruited between May 2013 and June 2014. INTERVENTIONS: Consenting family members were sent a postal questionnaire 3 weeks after the patient died or was discharged from ICU. Up to four family members were recruited per patient. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Family satisfaction was measured using the FS-ICU-24 questionnaire. MAIN RESULTS: A total of 12 346 family members of 6380 patients were recruited and 7173 (58%) family members of 4615 patients returned a completed questionnaire. Overall and domain-specific family satisfaction scores were high (mean overall family satisfaction 80, satisfaction with care 83, satisfaction with information 76 and satisfaction with decision-making 73 out of 100) but varied significantly across adult general ICUs studied and by whether the patient survived ICU. For family members of ICU survivors, characteristics of both the family member (age, ethnicity, relationship to patient (next-of-kin and/or lived with patient) and visit frequency) and the patient (acute severity of illness and receipt of invasive mechanical ventilation) were significant determinants of family satisfaction, whereas, for family members of ICU non-survivors, only patient characteristics (age, acute severity of illness and duration of stay) were significant. CONCLUSIONS: Overall family satisfaction in UK adult general ICUs was high but varied significantly. Adjustment for differences in family member/patient characteristics is important to avoid falsely identifying ICUs as statistical outliers. TRIAL REGISTRATION NUMBER: ISRCTN47363549