Effectiveness of physical and mental health interventions for young people with heart conditions: protocol for a systematic review and meta-analysis

INTRODUCTION

Cardiovascular disease is among the most common of non-communicable diseases, affecting 13.9 million children and young people (CYP) globally. Survival rates for CYP with heart conditions are rising, however, support for adjusting to life with a heart condition is lacking, as such it is unsurprising that one in three suffer from anxiety, depression or adjustment disorder. The proposed review aims to identify and assess the effectiveness of physical and mental health interventions across physical and mental health outcomes in young people with cardiac conditions using narrative synthesis and meta-analysis if appropriate.

METHODS AND ANALYSIS

Embase, Medline, PubMed, PsycINFO, Cochrane Databases, Web of Science and reference lists of relevant publications will be searched from 1980 to June 2022 for articles published in English or Italian. Screening, data extraction, intervention coding and risk of bias will be performed by two independent reviewers using an extraction checklist. Intervention content and features will be identified and reported using the Template for Intervention Description and Replication checklist. A narrative review of the included studies will be conducted. If possible and appropriate, a random-effects model meta-analysis will be conducted to calculate the pooled within-group and between-group effect sizes for the primary outcome measures. If sufficient data are available, a subgroup meta-analysis will investigate whether specific intervention types are associated with different levels of intervention effectiveness.

ETHICS AND DISSEMINATION

This systematic review does not directly involve the use of human beings, therefore, there is no requirement for ethical approval. Findings will be disseminated through peer-reviewed publication and in various media, such as conferences, congresses or symposia.

PROSPERO REGISTRATION NUMBER

CRD42022330582.

Subjective versus objective measures of distress, arousal and symptom burden in patients with functional seizures and other functional neurological symptom disorder presentations: A systematic review

Symptoms and functioning can be measured subjectively using self-report measures or objectively, based on physiological changes. This raises the question whether subjective and objective measures are closely correlated and - if not - whether one is more accurate or meaningful than the other, especially in patients with Functional Seizures (FS) or other Functional Neurological Symptom Disorders (FND), where subjective and objective observations may be thought particularly likely to deviate. This systematic review explores these questions focussing on measures of distress, arousal and symptom burden. Eighteen studies (12 FS, 6 other FND) capturing 396 FND patients were included. Eleven reported no correlation between subjective and objective measures. Only four studies reported significant correlations (r's = -0.74-0.59, p's < 0.05). The small number of studies and diverse methodologies do not provide conclusive answers to the questions posed. Given that subjective and objective measures capture different aspects of current state or function, a combination of measurement approaches is likely to provide optimal information about patients' health state. In view of the attentional and perceptual alterations implicated in FND, the difference between objective and subjective measures may represent an interesting observation in its own right.

Brivaracetam efficacy and tolerability in clinical practice: A UK-based retrospective multicenter service evaluation

PURPOSE

This multicenter service evaluation explores the efficacy and tolerability of brivaracetam (BRV) in an unselected, consecutive population in 'real-life' clinical settings.

METHOD

We retrospectively collected data from patient records at 11 UK hospitals and epilepsy centers. Consecutive patients prescribed BRV with at least 3 months of follow-up (FU) were included. Apart from reporting effectiveness and tolerability of BRV across the whole cohort, we compared treatment outcomes depending on previous levetiracetam use (LEV+ versus LEV-), comorbid learning disability (LD+ versus LD-), and epilepsy syndrome (focal versus generalized epilepsy).

RESULTS

Two hundred and ninety patients (46% male, median age: 38 years, range: 15 to 77) with ≥3 months of FU were included. The median duration of BRV exposure was 12 months (range: 1 day to 72 months). Overall BRV retention was 71.1%. While 56.1% of patients improved in terms of seizure frequency category (daily, weekly, monthly, yearly seizures), 23.1% did not improve on this measure and 20.8% deteriorated. In terms of seizure frequency, 21% of patients experienced a ≥50% reduction, with 7.0% of all patients becoming seizure-free. Treatment-emergent adverse events (AEs) were reported by 107 (36.9%) patients, but there were no serious AEs. The commonest AEs were sedation/fatigue (18.3%), mood changes (9.0%), and irritability/aggression (4.8%). There were no significant differences in drug retention, seizure frequency outcomes, or AEs between the LEV+ and LEV- subgroups, or between patients with generalized or focal epilepsies. Although 15.5% of patients in the LD+ group achieved a ≥50% reduction, this rate was lower than in the LD- group.

CONCLUSIONS

This 'real-life' evaluation suggests that reductions in seizure frequency can be achieved with BRV in patients with highly refractory epilepsy. Brivaracetam may be a useful treatment option in patients who have previously failed to respond to or tolerate LEV, those with LD, or (off-label) those with generalized epilepsies.

Symptoms of posttraumatic stress disorder in patients with functional neurological symptom disorder

OBJECTIVE

To describe prevalence and relevance of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) symptoms in Functional Neurological Symptom Disorder (FNSD) and explore differences in PTSD symptom scores between subgroups with Psychogenic Non-Epileptic Seizures (PNES) or other FNSD.

METHODS

This cross-sectional study evaluated data from 430 consecutive patients referred to a specialist psychotherapy service (69.3% female, 56% with PNES/44% with other FNSD). We analysed self-reported symptoms of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD Civilian Checklist, PCLC), depression (PHQ-9), anxiety (GAD-7), physical symptoms (PHQ-15), social functioning (WSAS), and health related quality of life (SF-36). Relationships between PTSD scores, diagnosis and other measures were examined. Independent associations of PTSD scores were identified using multilinear regression.

RESULTS

Symptom scores likely to indicate clinical PTSD were reported by 60.7% of patients with no difference between PNES and FNSD subgroups. Those potentially symptomatic of PTSD were less likely to be living with a partner OR 2.95 (95% CI 1.83-4.04), or to be in employment OR 2.23 (95% CI 1.46-3.41) than less symptomatic patients. There were higher levels of anxiety (r = 0.62), depression (r = 0.63) and somatic symptoms (r = 0.45) and lower quality of life scores (r = 0.48) in patients with high PTSD symptom scores (p < .0001 for all comparisons). Anxiety, depression and somatic symptoms made independent contributions to the variance of PTSD symptoms.

CONCLUSION

There is a high prevalence of PTSD symptoms in patient with FNSD regardless of whether they have PNES. Trauma and PTSD symptoms are negatively correlated with quality of life. Self-report instruments for anxiety, depression and somatic symptoms may predict the presence of PTSD.

Behavioral Therapy Approaches for the Management of Low Back Pain: An Up-To-Date Systematic Review

Low back pain is one of the most common causes for seeking medical treatment and it is estimated that one in two people will experience low back pain at some point during their lifetimes. Management of low back pain includes pharmacological and non-pharmacological approaches. Non-pharmaceutical treatments include interventions such as acupuncture, spinal manipulation, and psychotherapy. The latter is especially important as patients who suffer from low back pain often have impaired quality of life and also suffer from depression. Depressive symptoms can appear because back pain limits patients’ ability to work and engage in their usual social activities. The aim of this systematic review was to overview the behavioral approaches that can be used in the management of patients with low back pain. Approaches such as electromyography (EMG) biofeedback, cognitive behavioral therapy, and mindfulness-based stress reduction are discussed as non-pharmacological options in the management of low back pain.