Two-stage integrated care versus antipsychotic medication alone on outcomes of schizophrenia: One-year randomized controlled trial and follow-up

Network Analysis of the Brief ICF Core Set for Schizophrenia

Background

The International Classification of Functioning, Disability, and Health Core Sets (ICF-CSs) for schizophrenia are a set of categories for assessing functioning in persons with this health condition. This study aimed to: a) estimate the network structure of the Brief ICF-CS for schizophrenia, b) examine the community structure (categories strongly clustered together) underlying this network, and c) identify the most central categories within this network.

Methods

A total of 638 health professionals from different backgrounds and with a significant role in the treatment of individuals with schizophrenia participated in a series of Delphi studies. Based on their responses we used the Ising model to estimate the network structure of the 25-category Brief ICF-CS, and then estimated the degree of centrality for all categories. Finally, the community structure was detected using the walktrap algorithm.

Results

The resulting network revealed strong associations between individual categories within components of the ICF (i.e., Body functions, Activities and participation, and Environmental factors). The results also showed three distinct clusters of categories corresponding to the same three components. The categories e410 Individual attitudes of immediate family members, e450 Individual attitudes of health professionals, d910 Community life, and d175 Solving problems were among the most central categories in the Brief ICF-CS network.

Conclusion

These results demonstrate the utility of a network approach for estimating the structure of the ICF-CSs. Implications of these results for clinical interventions and development of new instruments are discussed.

An Integrated Account of Expert Perspectives on Functioning in Schizophrenia

An integrated and interdisciplinary care system for individuals with schizophrenia is essential, which implies the need for a tool that assesses the difficulties and contextual factors of relevance to their functioning, and facilitates coordinated working across the different professions involved in their care. The International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health Core Sets (ICF-CS) cover these requirements. This study aimed to evaluate the content validity of the ICF-CSs for schizophrenia from the perspective of experts. Six three-round Delphi studies were conducted with expert panels from different professional backgrounds which have played a significant role in the treatment of individuals with schizophrenia (psychiatry, psychology, nursing, occupational therapy, social work and physiotherapy). In total, 790 experts from 85 different countries participated in the first round. In total, 90 ICF categories and 28 Personal factors reached expert consensus (reached consensus from four or more professional perspectives). All the categories in the brief version of the ICF-CS for schizophrenia reached consensus from all the professional perspectives considered. As for the comprehensive version, 89.7% of its categories reached expert consensus. The results support the worldwide content validity of the ICF-CSs for schizophrenia from an expert perspective and underline the importance of assessing functioning by considering all the components implied.

A systematic review and meta-analysis of cognitive behavioural informed psychological interventions for psychiatric inpatients with psychosis

Psychological interventions such as Cognitive Behavioural Therapy for psychosis (CBTp) are recommended by the National Institute of Health and Care Excellence (NICE) for delivery in the acute phase of people's mental health difficulties. However, the effectiveness of cognitive behavioural informed psychological therapies for psychiatric inpatients is unknown. The aim of this review is to examine the type, quality and efficacy of cognitive behavioural informed psychological interventions for psychiatric inpatients experiencing psychosis. A systematic review and meta-analysis was conducted of randomised controlled trials examining the efficacy of cognitive behavioural informed psychological interventions offered to acute psychiatric inpatients with psychosis on primary (positive symptoms) and secondary outcomes of interest. A total of 23 studies were identified reporting on 18 trials of interventions such as CBTp, Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) and Metacognitive Therapy (MCT). Cognitive behavioural informed psychological interventions were found not be effective in reducing positive symptoms (primary outcome) at post-therapy and at follow-up but when a one study removed analysis was conducted a positive effect was found at both time points. In regard to secondary outcomes, cognitive behavioural informed psychological interventions demonstrated a significant favourable effect on negative symptoms (post-therapy), total symptoms (post-therapy and follow-up), functioning (post-therapy and follow-up) and readmission (follow-up). These psychological interventions may have potential to be effective for those admitted to psychiatric inpatient care and in acute crisis. However, findings are equivocal with evidence that these interventions have effect on some symptom measures but not others. Further examination of inpatient adapted cognitive behavioural informed psychological interventions is required.

Psychotic Symptoms and Attitudes toward Medication Mediate the Effect of Insight on Personal-Social Functions in Patients with Schizophrenia: One-Year Randomized Controlled Trial and Follow-Up

AIMS

This study aimed to investigate the mediating pathway of 3 factors (psychotic symptoms, attitude toward medication, and cognitive processing speed) on the effect of insight on personal-social functioning in patients with schizophrenia.

METHODS

Chinese inpatients with schizophrenia (n = 168; mean age 18 ± 50 years) diagnosed according to the DSM-IV were randomly assigned to treatment with antipsychotic medication alone or combined treatment. Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale (PANSS), Drug Attitude Inventory (DAI), Assessment of Insight (SAI), and Social-Personal Performance Scale (PSPS) scores were evaluated at baseline and at 3, 6, and 12 months. Cognitive function was assessed at baseline. Multiple mediation analyses were conducted with baseline data, end point data, and changes-in-scale scores between baseline and the end point, respectively.

RESULTS

At baseline and at 12 months, only psychotic symptoms mediated the effect of insight on personal-social functioning. For changes-in-scale scores over the 12-month follow-up, in patients receiving treatment with medication alone, the effect of improved insight on improved personal-social function was mediated by psychotic symptoms only; in patients receiving a combined treatment, the effect of improved insight on improved personal-social functioning was mediated by both psychotic symptoms and attitudes toward medication, independently.

CONCLUSIONS

The link between insight and personal-social functions is mainly mediated by psychotic symptoms. Psychosocial intervention improves the predicting effect of insight on personal-social function by improving both the attitude toward medication and psychotic symptoms independently.