Cost-effectiveness analysis of a randomized study of depression treatment options in primary care suggests stepped-care treatment may have economic benefits

Abstract Background The stepped-care pathway (SCP) model has previously been found to be clinically effective for depressive disorder in some studies, but not all. Several groups have suggested that a stepped-care approach is the most appropriate in primary care. There is relatively little information, however, regarding which specific stepped-care pathway may be best. This analysis aimed to determine cost-effectiveness of a stepped-care pathway for depression in adults in primary care versus standard care (SC), treatment-as-usual (TAU), and online cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT). Methods We conducted a randomized trial with 1400 participants and 12-week follow-up to assess the impact of the four treatment options on health-related quality of life and depression severity. Costs for the groups were calculated on the basis of physician, outpatient, and inpatient services using administrative data. We then calculated the incremental cost-effectiveness ratios using this information. Cost-effectiveness acceptability curves and incremental cost-effectiveness scatterplots were created using Monte Carlo simulation with 10,000 replications. A subgroup analysis was conducted for participants who screened as depressed at baseline. Results For all participants, TAU was the most expensive followed by CBT, SC, and SCP. QALYs were highest in SCP, followed by SC, CBT, and TAU. In the depressed subgroup, TAU was still the most expensive, followed by SC, SCP, and CBT, while QALYs were still highest in SCP, followed by SC, CBT, and TAU. The cost-effectiveness acceptability curves suggested that SCP had a higher probability for cost-effectiveness than the other three alternatives in all participants. In the depressed subgroup, CBT was associated with the highest probability of cost-effectiveness for a willingness-to-pay cut-off of less than approximately $50,000, while SCP was the highest at a cut-off higher than$50,000. There is considerable uncertainty around the cost-effectiveness estimates. Conclusions Our analysis showed that even where there are no clinically significant differences in health outcomes between treatment approaches, there may be economic benefit from implementing the stepped-care model. While more work is required to identify the most clinically effective versions of a stepped-care pathway, our findings suggest that the care pathway may have potential to improve health care system value. Trial registration NCT01975207 . The trial was prospectively registered on 4 November 2013

Exploring the experience of boarded psychiatric patients in adult emergency departments

Abstract Background This study quantifies the frequency of adverse events (AEs) experienced by psychiatric patients while boarded in the emergency department (ED) and describes those events over a broad range of categories. Methods A retrospective chart review (RCR) of adult psychiatric patients aged 18–55 presenting to one of four Calgary EDs (Foothills Medical Centre (FMC), the Peter Lougheed Centre (PLC), the Rockyview General Hospital (RGH), and South Health Campus (SHC)) who were subsequently admitted to an inpatient psychiatric unit between January 1, 2019 and May 15, 2019 were eligible for review. A test of association was used to determine the odds of an independent variable being associated with an adverse event. Results During the study time period, 1862 adult patients were admitted from EDs (city wide) to the psychiatry service. Of the 200 charts reviewed, the average boarding time was 23.5 h with an average total ED length of stay of 31 h for all presentations within the sample. Those who experienced an AE while boarded in the ED had a significantly prolonged average boarding time (35 h) compared to those who did not experience one (6.5 h) (p = 0.005). Conclusions The length of time a patient is in the emergency department and the length of time a patient is boarded after admission significantly increases the odds that the patient will experience an AE while in the ED. Other significant factors associated with AEs include the type of admission and the hospital the patient was admitted from

Environmental Scan Naloxone Access and Distribution in Canada

In response to an epidemic of opioid overdose deaths attributed to prescription and illicit opioid use, distribution of the opioid antagonist naloxone has been identified in Canada and abroad as a key emergency measure to effectively prevent rising mortality (1,2). The current environmental scan was produced in order to better understand current practices and programs aimed to distribute naloxone for use in suspected opioid overdose, to assess uptake of these programs across Canadian provinces and territories (P/Ts), and to understand barriers related to knowledge and evidence in the use of naloxone, as well as operational obstacles to achieving widespread population coverage. Publicly funded take-home naloxone (THN) programs have been rolled out across every province and territory in Canada in response to the current opioid crisis. All publicly funded THN programs offer naloxone free of charge to those at risk of opioid overdose, while the majority of these programs also target any person who self-identifies as being at risk of witnessing an opioid overdose (including friends or family of people who use drugs). All provinces offer kits with the injectable formulation of naloxone as part of their publicly-funded program, while three P/Ts (Ontario, Quebec, and the Northwest Territories) also offer the nasal naloxone spray. Nasal naloxone spray is also available to clients of Veterans Affairs Canada, and through the NonInsured Health Benefits (NIHB) Program (benefits for First Nations individuals who present a valid status card and personal health number to confirm their eligibility). In most P/Ts, naloxone is made available through a number of different sites and organisations, including community pharmacies, shelters, medical centres, and treatment service centres, although some jurisdictions are limited in their ability to distribute naloxone due to geographical considerations and regulations related to provincial drug scheduling. While population access to naloxone has improved substantially across the country, there remain some jurisdiction-specific operational, geographic, knowledge/evidence, and policy barriers to access. Importantly, there are several unanswered questions regarding the safety and effectiveness of different naloxone routes of administration, dosing, and the extent of training needed to effectively respond to an overdose and administer naloxone. Evidence regarding the benefit of distributing naloxone broadly (as opposed to only specific at-risk populations) is needed. There are also ethical considerations including how to collect robust health data while protecting low-barrier access environments and respecting patient anonymity, and whether it is appropriate to provide naloxone kits to minors. Additional considerations include identifying the most effective overdose response strategy more generally (outlining actions to take beyond administering naloxone, such as chest compressions, rescue breaths, calling 911, etc., and the order to take them in), as well as in the development of program evaluation practices and performance indicators. Consolidating existing evidence, suggesting areas for future research, and building consensus among stakeholders may help improve naloxone access and ensure equitable outcomes in Canada. Finally, there is continued recognition of the complex social, political, and legal solutions needed to address the state of the opioid crisis in Canada, as well as for the need to address continued stigma around drug use, integrate harm reduction practices, and support a holistic model of care in order to best confront the upstream factors leading to overdose, addiction, and substance use.Medicine, Faculty ofNon UBCPopulation and Public Health (SPPH), School ofUnreviewedFacultyResearche

Engaging people with lived experience in the grant review process

Abstract People with lived experience are individuals who have first-hand experience of the medical condition(s) being considered. The value of including the viewpoints of people with lived experience in health policy, health care, and health care and systems research has been recognized at many levels, including by funding agencies. However, there is little guidance or established best practices on how to include non-academic reviewers in the grant review process. Here we describe our approach to the inclusion of people with lived experience in every stage of the grant review process. After a budget was created for a specific call, a steering committee was created. This group included researchers, people with lived experience, and health systems administrators. This group developed and issued the call. After receiving proposals, stage one was scientific review by researchers. Grants were ranked by this score and a short list then reviewed by people with lived experience as stage two. Finally, for stage three, the Steering Committee convened and achieved consensus based on information drawn from stages one and two. Our approach to engage people with lived experience in the grant review process was positively reviewed by everyone involved, as it allowed for patient perspectives to be truly integrated. However, it does lengthen the review process. The proposed model offers further practical insight into including people with lived experience in the review process

Youth mental health care use during the COVID-19 pandemic in Alberta, Canada: an interrupted time series, population-based study

Abstract Background During the COVID-19 pandemic, youth had rising mental health needs and changes in service accessibility. Our study investigated changes in use of mental health care services for Canadian youth in Alberta before and during the COVID-19 pandemic. We also investigated how youth utilization patterns differed for subgroups based on social factors (i.e., age, gender, socioeconomic status, and geography) previously associated with health care access. Methods We used cross-sectional population-based data from Alberta, Canada to understand youth (15–24 year) mental health care use from 2018/19 to 2021/22. We performed interrupted time series design, segmented regression modeling on type of mental health care use (i.e., general physician, psychiatrist, emergency room, and hospitalization) and diagnosis-related use. We also investigated the characteristics of youth who utilized mental health care services and stratified diagnosis-related use patterns by youth subgroups. Results The proportion of youth using mental health care significantly increased from 15.6% in 2018/19 to 18.8% in 2021/22. Mental health care use showed an immediate drop in April 2020 when the COVID-19 pandemic was declared and public health protections were instituted, followed by a steady rise during the next 2 years. An increase was significant for general physician and psychiatrist visits. Most individual diagnoses included in this study showed significant increasing trends during the pandemic (i.e., anxiety, adjustment, ADHD, schizophrenia, and self-harm), with substance use showing an overall decrease. Mortality rates greatly increased for youth being seen for mental health reasons from 71 per 100,000 youth in 2018/19 to 163 per 100,000 in 2021/22. In addition, there were clear shifts over time in the characteristics of youth using mental health care services. Specifically, there was increased utilization for women/girls compared to men/boys and for youth from wealthier neighborhoods. Increases over time in the utilization of services for self-harm were limited to younger youth (15–16 year). Conclusions The study provides evidence of shifts in mental health care use during the COVID-19 pandemic. Findings can be used to plan for ongoing mental health needs of youth, future pandemic responses, and other public health emergencies

Associations between recreational cannabis legalization and cannabis-related emergency department visits by age, gender, and geographic status in Ontario, Canada: An interrupted time series study.

Legalization of recreational cannabis in Ontario included the legalization of flower and herbs (Phase 1, October 2018), and was followed by the deregulation of cannabis retailers and sales of edibles (Phase 2, February 2020). Research on the impact of cannabis legalization on acute care utilization is nascet; no research has investigated potential age, gender, and geographically vulnerable subgroup effects. Residents living in Northern Ontario not only have higher levels of substance use problems, but also have inadequate access to primary healthcare. Our study investigated the impact of Ontario's recreational cannabis policy (including Phase 1 and 2) on cannabis-attributable emergency department (ED) visits, and estimated the impact separately for different age and gender groups, with additional analyses focused on Northern Ontarians. We created a cohort of adults (18 and over) eligible for provincial universal health insurance with continuous coverage from 2015-2021 (n = 14,900,820). An interrupted time series was used to examine the immediate impact and month-to-month changes in cannabis-related ED visits associated with Phase 1 & 2 for each subgroup. While Northern Ontario has higher rates of cannabis-related ED visits, both Northern and Southern Ontario show similar patterns of changes. Phase 1 was associated with significant increases in adults 25-64, with the strongest increases seen in women 45-64. Month-to-month trends were flattened in most groups compared to pre-legalization. Phase 2 was associated with significant immediate increases for adults aged 18-44 in both genders, but the increases were larger in women than men. No significant month-to-month changes were detected in this period. While current preventive efforts are largely focused on reducing cannabis-related harms in youths and younger adults, our results show that adults 25-64, particularly women, have been significantly impacted by cannabis policies. Further research on gender-specific cannabis dosage and targeted interventions for adult women should be investigated. Legalization did not appear to have a differential impact on Northern versus Southern Ontario, but higher rates of ED visits in the North should be addressed

Documenting cannabis use in primary care: a descriptive cross-sectional study using electronic medical record data in Alberta, Canada

Abstract Objective Documenting cannabis use is important for patient care, but no formal requirements for consistent reporting exist in primary care. The objective of this study was to understand how cannabis use is documented in primary care electronic medical record (EMR) data. Results This was a cross-sectional study using de-identified EMR data from over 398,000 patients and 333 primary care providers in Alberta, Canada. An automated pattern-matching algorithm was developed to identify text and ICD-9 diagnostic codes indicating cannabis use in the EMR. There was a total of 11,724 records indicating cannabis use from 4652 patients, representing approximately 1.2% of the patient sample. Commonly used terms and ICD-9 codes included cannabis, marijuana/marihuana, THC, 304.3 and 305.2. Nabilone was the most frequently prescribed cannabinoid medication. Slightly more males and those with a chronic condition had cannabis use recorded more often. Overall, very few patients have cannabis use recorded in primary care EMR data and this is not captured in a systematic way. We propose several strategies to improve the documentation of cannabis use to facilitate more effective clinical care, research, and surveillance

MOESM1 of The psychiatry resident research experience

Additional file 1. Copy of the questionnaire used in the study

First Nations emergency care in Alberta: descriptive results of a retrospective cohort study

Abstract Background Worse health outcomes are consistently reported for First Nations people in Canada. Social, political and economic inequities as well as inequities in health care are major contributing factors to these health disparities. Emergency care is an important health services resource for First Nations people. First Nations partners, academic researchers, and health authority staff are collaborating to examine emergency care visit characteristics for First Nations and non-First Nations people in the province of Alberta. Methods We conducted a population-based retrospective cohort study examining all Alberta emergency care visits from April 1, 2012 to March 31, 2017 by linking administrative data. Patient demographics and emergency care visit characteristics for status First Nations persons in Alberta, and non-First Nations persons, are reported. Frequencies and percentages (%) describe patients and visits by categorical variables (e.g., Canadian Triage and Acuity Scale). Means, medians, standard deviations and interquartile ranges describe continuous variables (e.g., age). Results The dataset contains 11,686,288 emergency care visits by 3,024,491 unique persons. First Nations people make up 4% of the provincial population and 9.4% of provincial emergency visits. The population rate of emergency visits is nearly 3 times higher for First Nations persons than non-First Nations persons. First Nations women utilize emergency care more than non-First Nations women (54.2% of First Nations visits are by women compared to 50.9% of non-First Nations visits). More First Nations visits end in leaving without completing treatment (6.7% v. 3.6%). Conclusions Further research is needed on the impact of First Nations identity on emergency care drivers and outcomes, and on emergency care for First Nations women