Suicide risk is elevated among individuals at clinical high risk for psychosis (CHR-P). The current study examined variability in suicidal ideation during treatment for individuals at CHR-P.
Cannabis is used by one third of youth in Early Psychosis Intervention (EPI) programs and high dose consumption of the primary constituent Δ-9 tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) is associated with higher risk for relapse in this group. Cannabidiol (CBD) is a secondary cannabis constituent that may have antipsychotic properties, though its health risks are only beginning to be understood. Little is known about the views of youth in EPI programs toward CBD, including their reasons for use and perceptions of risk.
To review and evaluate the evidence from meta-analytic studies of psychosocial and behavioural interventions for the negative symptoms of schizophrenia. To read the full article, choose Open Athens “Institutional Login” and search for “Midlands Partnership”.
Childhood-onset schizophrenia (COS) is a rare and severe form of schizophrenia with an estimated prevalence of 1/10,000. Schizophrenia and Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) have shared phenotypic features and shared genetic etiology. There is growing research surrounding the co-occurrence of psychomotor syndromes like catatonia with neurodevelopmental disorders like ASD or psychiatric disorders like schizophrenia. In 2013, Shorter and Wachtel described a phenomenon of the ‘Iron Triangle’ where COS, ASD, and catatonia often co-occur. The Iron Triangle theory is based on observation of historical case literature, which showed that all three diagnoses in the Iron Triangle were routinely assigned to children and adolescents. To read the full article, choose Open Athens “Institutional Login” and search for “Midlands Partnership”.
For people living with psychosis, cognitive impairment is common and can have significant impacts for functional recovery, impacting engagement with treatment and quality of life more broadly. There is now strong evidence for the effectiveness of cognition-focused treatments, such as cognitive remediation to improve clinical and functional outcomes for people with psychosis. However, engagement with treatment has been a long-standing issue in mental health care, including for people with psychosis, who often experience difficulties with motivation. While research on clinical effectiveness of cognition-focused treatment is growing, to date there has been little research focused on the implementation of such treatments and it is not clear how best to support uptake and engagement across diverse mental health settings
Schizophrenia onset in the developmental age has a strong neurodevelopmental burden and is associated with a poorer prognosis. The approach to diagnosis is still based on symptomatic description without objective validation. In this study, we aimed to compare the peripheral blood levels of hypothesized biomarker proteins: brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF), proBDNF, p75 neurotrophin receptor (p75NTR) and S100B between early-onset schizophrenia-spectrum adolescents (n = 45) and healthy controls (n = 34). To read the full article, choose Open Athens “Institutional Login” and search for “Midlands Partnership”.
Early intervention in people with an at-risk mental state (ARMS) for psychosis can prevent the onset of psychosis. Clinical guidelines recommend that ARMS are referred to triage services, and then to Early Intervention (EI) teams in secondary care for assessment and treatment. However, little is known about how ARMS patients are identified and managed in UK primary and secondary care. This study explored patients' and clinicians' views of ARMS patients' care pathways.
Youth at clinical high risk (CHR) for psychosis have high rates of early life trauma, but it is unclear how trauma exposure impacts later negative symptom severity in CHR. The current study examined the association between early childhood trauma and the five domains of negative symptoms (anhedonia, avolition, asociality, blunted affect, alogia).
It is clear from the results that participants were uncertain about how to support their family members with reducing or stopping antipsychotics and the harms and benefits of doing so. Thus, it might be beneficial for clinicians to provide family members with sufficient information about the above, so they can make an informed decision about the best options for support. Continued monitoring might ensure that the family member does not need to increase their dosage, change antipsychotics, or take antipsychotics again.
This study aimed to establish a prediction model of quetiapine concentration in patients with schizophrenia and depression, based on real-world data via machine learning techniques to assist clinical regimen decisions. To read the full article, choose Open Athens “Institutional Login” and search for “Midlands Partnership”.
Understanding the evolution of negative symptoms in first-episode psychosis (FEP) requires long-term longitudinal study designs that capture the progression of this condition and the associated brain changes. To read the full article, choose Open Athens “Institutional Login” and search for “Midlands Partnership”.
There are communities in which hearing voices frequently is common and expected, and in which participants are not expected to have a need for care. This paper compares the ideas and practices of these communities. We observe that these communities utilize cultural models to identify and to explain voice-like events—and that there are some common features to these models across communities......To read the full article, choose Open Athens “Institutional Login” and search for “Midlands Partnership”.
Approximately one-third of patients with a psychotic disorder experience visual hallucinations (VH). While new, more targeted treatment options are warranted, the pathophysiology of VH remains largely unknown. Previous studies hypothesized that VH result from impaired functioning of the vision-related networks and impaired interaction between those networks, including a possible functional disconnection between the primary visual cortex (V1) and higher-order visual processing regions. Testing these hypotheses requires sufficient data on brain activation during actual VH, but such data are extremely scarce. To read the full article, choose Open Athens “Institutional Login” and search for “Midlands Partnership”.
Partial agonists of dopamine receptors are used in combination with full antagonists in treating psychosis, either to mitigate side-effects or in the hope of increasing effectiveness. We examine how combinations may affect the occupancy of D2/D3 dopamine receptors and explore how these can explain the outcomes in the light of the dopamine hypothesis of psychosis. The combinations considered here are from published studies combining aripiprazole with amisulpride, with risperidone in people with hyperprolactinaemia and with olanzapine to mitigate weight gain. We discuss possible worsening of symptoms by the addition of a partial agonist or switching. We also examine the potentially adverse interaction with a full antagonist such as haloperidol given during a subsequent relapse to control severe agitation. To read the full article, choose Open Athens “Institutional Login” and search for “Midlands Partnership”.
Clozapine dose assessment in treatment-refractory schizophrenia is complicated. There is a narrow margin between an effective and a potentially toxic dose and wide inter-individual variation in clozapine metabolic capacity. Moreover, factors such as changes in smoking habit, infection/inflammation, co-prescription of certain drugs, notably fluvoxamine, and age alter the dose requirement within individuals. Therapeutic drug monitoring (TDM) of plasma clozapine and N-desmethylclozapine (norclozapine) can help assess adherence, guide dosage and guard against toxicity. This article gives an overview of clozapine pharmacokinetics and factors affecting clozapine dose requirements. It then outlines the procedures and processes of clozapine TDM, from taking the blood sample for laboratory assay or point-of-contact (finger-prick) testing (POCT) to interpreting and acting on the results. To read the full article, choose Open Athens “Institutional Login” and search for “Midlands Partnership”.
Family history is an established risk factor for mental illness. The authors sought to investigate whether polygenic scores (PGSs) can complement family history to improve identification of risk for major mood and psychotic disorders. To read the full article, choose Open Athens “Institutional Login” and search for “Midlands Partnership”.
Negative symptoms are a primary cause of disability in schizophrenia for which there are no established pharmacotherapies. This study evaluated a novel psychosocial intervention that combined two evidence-based practices—motivational interviewing and cognitive-behavioral therapy (MI-CBT)—for the treatment of motivational negative symptoms. To read the full article, choose Open Athens “Institutional Login” and search for “Midlands Partnership”.
Guidance on clozapine dosing in treatment-resistant schizophrenia is based largely on data from White young adult males. This study aimed to investigate the pharmacokinetic profiles of clozapine and N-desmethylclozapine (norclozapine) across the age range, accounting for sex, ethnicity, smoking status, and body weight. To read the full article, choose Open Athens “Institutional Login” and search for “Midlands Partnership”.
Medication self-management (MSM) is considered an important aspect of pharmacotherapy and plays an essential role in the treatment of various illnesses. To date, research into the willingness and attitude of psychiatric healthcare providers toward MSM in patients diagnosed with schizophrenia or bipolar disorders during hospitalization is lacking. To read the full article, choose Open Athens “Institutional Login” and search for “Midlands Partnership”.
A. Laenen, T. Vangeneugden, H. Geys, und G. Molenberghs. The British journal of mathematical and statistical psychology, 59 (Pt 1):
113-31(Mai 2006)Mesures de concordància; Online; ICC; Psiquiatria.