Personalised medicine: are we ready?

A mixed methods expert opinion study on the optimal content and format for an occupational therapy intervention to improve sleep in schizophrenia spectrum disorders

Introduction

People with schizophrenia spectrum disorder diagnoses commonly have poor sleep, which predicts various negative outcomes. The problems are diverse, including substantial circadian dysregulation, sleep-wake timing issues, hypersomnia (excessive sleep), and more classic insomnia.

Methods

This paper reports on a mixed methods expert opinion study based on the principles of Delphi methodology. The study examines and explores opinion on the optimal contents and format for an occupational therapy intervention to improve poor sleep in this population. Views of clinical and academic topic experts (n = 56), were elicited, examined and explored in three rounds, views from previous rounds being presented back to participants in subsequent rounds. Participants with relevant personal experience (n = 26) then rated and commented on suggestions, with a focus on acceptability. Descriptive statistics and graphs of ratings were triangulated with qualitative content analysis of free-text.

Results

Participants emphasised the central importance of intervention personalisation, although the manner and extent of personalisation suggested varied. Many components and domains were acknowledged as important, with the challenge being how to keep such an intervention simple, brief, and feasible for end-users, for sustainable implementation. The strongest consensus was to address evening routine, daytime activity, and environmental interventions. Relaxation, mindfulness, thermoregulation, sensory factors, and cognitive or psychological approaches were rated as less important. There was disagreement on whether to include time in bed restriction, and how to address napping, as well as how far to address medication timing. Clinicians and researchers advocated some version of stimulus control, but participants with personal experience reported low levels of acceptability for this, describing entirely negative experiences using ‘the 15-minute rule’ (part of stimulus control).

Conclusion

These results are informative for clinicians treating sleep problems in people with schizophrenia and related conditions, as well as for decision makers considering the potential contribution of the profession of occupational therapy toward sleep treatment.

European Respiratory Society Guidelines for the Diagnosis of Asthma in Adults

Although asthma is very common affecting 5-10% of the population, the diagnosis of asthma in adults remains a challenge in the real world that results in both over- and under-diagnosis. A task force (TF) was set up by the European Respiratory Society to systematically review the literature on the diagnostic accuracy of tests used to diagnose asthma in adult patients and provide recommendation for clinical practice.The TF defined eight PICO (Population, Index, Comparator, and Outcome) questions that were assessed using the GRADE (Grading of Recommendations, Assessment, Development and Evaluation) approach, The TF utilised the outcomes to develop an evidenced-based diagnostic algorithm, with recommendations for a pragmatic guideline for everyday practice that was directed by real-life patient experiences.The TF support the initial use of spirometry followed, and if airway obstruction is present, by bronchodilator reversibility testing. If initial spirometry fails to show obstruction, further tests should be performed in the following order: FeNO, PEF variability or in secondary care, bronchial challenge. We present the thresholds for each test that are compatible with a diagnosis of asthma in the presence of current symptoms.The TF reinforce the priority to undertake spirometry and recognise the value of measuring blood eosinophils and serum IgE to phenotype the patient. Measuring gas trapping by body plethysmography in patients with preserved FEV1/FVC ratio deserves further attention. The TF draw attention on the difficulty of making a correct diagnosis in patients already receiving inhaled corticosteroids, the comorbidities that may obscure the diagnosis, the importance of phenotyping, and the necessity to consider the patient experience in the diagnostic process.

Are there specific clinical characteristics associated with physician's treatment choices in COPD?

Background

The number of pharmacological agents and guidelines available for COPD has increased markedly but guidelines remain poorly followed. Understanding underlying clinical reasoning is challenging and could be informed by clinical characteristics associated with treatment prescriptions.

Methods

To determine whether COPD treatment choices by respiratory physicians correspond to specific patients’ features, this study was performed in 1171 patients who had complete treatment and clinical characterisation data. Multiple statistical models were applied to explain five treatment categories: A: no COPD treatment or short-acting bronchodilator(s) only; B: one long-acting bronchodilator (beta2 agonist, LABA or anticholinergic agent, LAMA); C: LABA+LAMA; D: a LABA or LAMA + inhaled corticosteroid (ICS); E: triple therapy (LABA+LAMA+ICS).

Results

Mean FEV1 was 60% predicted. Triple therapy was prescribed to 32.9% (treatment category E) of patients and 29.8% received a combination of two treatments (treatment categories C or D); ICS-containing regimen were present for 44% of patients altogether. Single or dual bronchodilation were less frequently used (treatment categories B and C: 19% each). While lung function was associated with all treatment decisions, exacerbation history, scores of clinical impact and gender were associated with the prescription of > 1 maintenance treatment. Statistical models could predict treatment decisions with a < 35% error rate.

Conclusion

In COPD, contrary to what has been previously reported in some studies, treatment choices by respiratory physicians appear rather rational since they can be largely explained by the patients’ characteristics proposed to guide them in most recommendations.

Electronic supplementary material

The online version of this article (10.1186/s12931-019-1156-1) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

[Personalised COPD care: Where are we going?]

The concept of personalised medicine is recent but the underlying notions are not new: knowing how to adapt care to patients' characteristics is one of the components of the "art of medicine". The advances of science allow to refine considerably the applications of the concept in many fields of medicine including COPD: research has identified phenotypes, endotypes and treatable traits. Personalisation can be applied to all components of care. For instance, the decision to perform screening spirometry relies not only on risk factors (age, smoking, other exposures) but also on symptoms. Assessment of comorbidities often associated with COPD is based on risk factors and their combinations, variable between individuals. Rehabilitation and its components are in essence highly individualised, which a major condition for their success. Last but not least, personalisation of pharmacological therapy, which has long been rather poor, could not benefit from biomarkers of interest (predictive of response), such as blood eosinophil count. Practical strategies using these still need to be established, and new biomarkers may usefully enrich the collection!