scholarly journals Carepath for overcoming psychosis early (COPE): first 5 years of clinical operation and prospective research in the Cavan–Monaghan early intervention service

Author(s):  
S. Fayyaz ◽  
N. Nkire ◽  
B. Nwosu ◽  
N. Amjad ◽  
A. Kinsella ◽  
...  

Objectives: As Ireland confronts the many challenges of broadening the introduction of early intervention services (EIS) for first episode psychosis (FEP) as national policy, this article describes Carepath for Overcoming Psychosis Early (COPE), the EIS of Cavan–Monaghan Mental Health Service, and presents prospective research findings during its first 5 years of operation. Methods: COPE was launched as a rural EIS with an embedded research protocol in early 2012, following an education programme for general practitioners (GPs). Here, operational activities are documented and research findings presented through to late 2016. Results: During this period, 115 instances of FEP were incepted into COPE, 70.4% via their GP and 29.6% via the Emergency Department. The annual rate of inception was 24.8/100,000 of population aged > 15 years and was 2.1-fold more common among men than women. Mean duration of untreated psychosis was 5.7 months and median time from first psychotic presentation to initiation of antipsychotic treatment was zero days. Assessments of psychopathology, neuropsychology, neurology, premorbid functioning, quality of life, insight, and functionality compared across 10 DSM-IV psychotic diagnoses made at six months following presentation indicated minimal differences between them, other than more prominent negative symptoms in schizophrenia and more prominent mania in bipolar disorder. Conclusions: COPE illustrates the actuality of introducing and the challenges of operating a rural EIS for FEP. Prospective follow-up studies of the 5-year COPE cohort should inform on the effectiveness of this EIS model in relation to long-term outcome in psychotic illness across what appear to be arbitrary diagnostic boundaries at FEP.

2011 ◽  
Vol 26 (S2) ◽  
pp. 2068-2068
Author(s):  
S. Galderisi

Negative symptoms of schizophrenia have often been associated with poor functional outcome and poor response to antipsychotic treatment. Studies reporting drug induced significant reduction of negative symptoms after treatment actually refer to negative symptoms secondary to positive, depressive and/or extrapyramidal symptoms. Negative symptoms that do not improve following antipsychotic treatment represent a real challenge for future development of effective treatments. Two approaches have been so far proposed to improve research on these negative symptoms. The first one is based on the identification of primary and enduring negative symptoms, that characterize a schizophrenia subtype known as deficit schizophrenia (DS). The prevalence of DS is 15%–20% in population based samples, but tends to be much lower in first-episode patients. Individuals with DS have worse long-term outcome and poorer response to antipsychotics than those with other forms of schizophrenia. The second approach is based on the identification of persistent negative symptoms, which are likely to be primary, but may be secondary. Few data are available on the prevalence of persistent negative symptoms in patients with schizophrenia. In first episode subjects from the EUFEST study 11% of the study sample showed persistent negative symptoms (PNS). They had poorer functional outcome and lower remission rates than those without PNS after 1 year of treatment. Research on clinical and biological correlated of primary and/or persistent negative symptoms might help in reducing schizophrenia heterogeneity and developing new treatments.


2018 ◽  
Vol 49 (5) ◽  
pp. 750-753 ◽  
Author(s):  
Joanna Moncrieff ◽  
Sandra Steingard

AbstractNew studies of long-term outcomes claim to show that taking antipsychotics on a continuous and indefinite basis is the best approach for people diagnosed with a first episode of psychosis or schizophrenia. A 10-year follow-up of a trial of quetiapine maintenance, for example, found a higher proportion of people with a poor composite outcome in the group initially randomised to placebo. However, most people classified as showing poor outcome were rated as having a mild score on a single psychotic symptom; there were no differences in overall symptoms, positive or negative symptoms or level of functioning. Moreover, 16% of participants did not have a follow-up interview and data from the end of the original trial were used instead. A study using a Finnish database suggested that mortality and readmission were higher in people who did not start long-term antipsychotic treatment or who discontinued it as compared with long-term continuous users. However, the analysis did not control for important confounders and is likely to reflect the fact that people who do not comply with treatment are at higher risk of death due to underlying health risks and behaviours. The analysis showed a slightly higher risk of readmission among non-users of antipsychotics compared with long-term users and a more substantial increased risk among people who discontinued treatment. However, follow-up ceased at the first readmission and therefore eventual, long-term outcome was not assessed. Speed of reduction and whether it was done with or without clinical support were also not distinguished.


2020 ◽  
Vol 23 (4) ◽  
pp. 217-229 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marcos Gómez-Revuelta ◽  
José María Pelayo-Terán ◽  
María Juncal-Ruiz ◽  
Javier Vázquez-Bourgon ◽  
Paula Suárez-Pinilla ◽  
...  

Abstract Background Different effectiveness profiles among antipsychotics may be a key point to optimize treatment in patients suffering a first episode of psychosis to impact on long-term outcome. The aim of this study is to compare the clinical effectiveness of olanzapine, risperidone, haloperidol, aripiprazole, ziprasidone, and quetiapine in the treatment of first episode of psychosis at 3-year follow-up. Method From February 2001 to January 2011, 2 phases of a prospective, randomized, open-label study were undertaken. A total of 376 first-episode drug-naïve patients were randomly assigned to olanzapine (n = 55), risperidone (n = 63), haloperidol (n = 56), aripiprazole (n = 78), ziprasidone (n = 62), or quetiapine (n = 62) and followed up for 3 years. The primary effectiveness measure was all cause of treatment discontinuation. In addition, an analysis based on intention-to-treat principle was conducted in the analysis for clinical efficacy. Results The overall dropout rate at 3 years reached 20.75%. Treatment discontinuation rates were significantly different among treatment groups (olanzapine = 69.09, risperidone = 71.43, aripiprazole = 73.08%, ziprasidone = 79.03%, haloperidol = 89.28%, and quetiapine = 95.53%) (χ2 = 79.86; P = .000). Statistically significant differences in terms of lack of efficacy, adherence, and tolerability were observed among treatment groups along the 3-year follow-up, determining significant differences in time to all-cause discontinuation (log-rank = 92.240; P = .000). Significant differences between treatments were found in the categories of sleepiness/sedation, increased sleep duration, akinesia, weight gain, ejaculatory dysfunction, extrapyramidal-symptoms, and amenorrhea. Conclusions Olanzapine, risperidone, and aripiprazole presented advantages for the first-line treatment of first episode of psychosis in terms of effectiveness. Identifying different discontinuation patterns may contribute to optimize treatment selection after first episode of psychosis. ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT02526030 https://clinicaltrials.gov/show/NCT02526030


2015 ◽  
Vol 206 (6) ◽  
pp. 492-500 ◽  
Author(s):  
Wing Chung Chang ◽  
Gloria Hoi Kei Chan ◽  
Olivia Tsz Ting Jim ◽  
Emily Sin Kei Lau ◽  
Christy Lai Ming Hui ◽  
...  

BackgroundNumerous early intervention services targeting young people with psychosis have been established, based on the premise that reducing treatment delay and providing intensive treatment in the initial phase of psychosis can improve long-term outcome.AimsTo establish the effect of extending a specialised early intervention treatment for first-episode psychosis by 1 year.MethodA randomised, single-blind controlled trial (NCT01202357) compared a 1-year extension of specialised early intervention with step-down care in patients who had all received a 2-year intensive early intervention programme for first-episode psychosis.ResultsPatients receiving an additional year of specialised intervention had better outcomes in functioning, negative and depressive symptoms and treatment default rate than those managed by step-down psychiatric care.ConclusionsExtending the period of specialised early intervention is clinically desirable but may not be feasible in lower-income countries.


2009 ◽  
Vol 24 (1) ◽  
pp. 11-16 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alessandro Serretti ◽  
Laura Mandelli ◽  
Emanuele Bajo ◽  
Nadia Cevenini ◽  
Pietro Papili ◽  
...  

AbstractSchizophrenia is associated with a high familiar, social and economic burden. During the recent years early and specific intervention for first psychotic episodes has been suggested to improve the long term outcome of the disease. Despite the promising results obtained so far, early intervention is still scarcely applied. One major problem arises from the translation of research findings into stakeholder policies. In fact very few analyses of cost reductions obtained with early intervention have been reported. In the present paper we present a simulation of direct cost reduction that can be obtained with early intervention programmes. We based our analysis on available data about schizophrenia care costs in Italy and the expected cost reduction with the use of early intervention. We observed that the increase in costs due to the more intensive early intervention is largely compensated by the reduction of inpatient admissions with a reduction of direct costs of 6.01%. Despite the apparently small economic gain, early intervention offers more clinical and social benefits as it seems to be effective also in decreasing relapse rates, in improving the patients' quality of life and disability associated with psychosis and in increasing employment rates. Those indirect costs however are difficult to estimate and were not included in our model.In conclusion, our study supports the use of early intervention in schizophrenia, which could allow an outcome improvement with lower direct and indirect costs.


CNS Spectrums ◽  
2010 ◽  
Vol 15 (S6) ◽  
pp. 4-7 ◽  
Author(s):  
Delbert Robinson

Clinicians treating patients with first-episode (FE) schizophrenia can draw upon the vast literature on the treatment of patients with multiple-episode schizophrenia. Studies with multi-episode patients, however, may not fully generalize to the treatment of FE patients. Studies with multi-episode patients typically recruit from hospitals or other acute care units, settings where patients usually have been either non-responsive or non-adherent to previous treatment, or mixtures of both. Studies of multi-episode patients therefore tend to include patients who are not fully responsive to treatment. Without the filter of prior treatment history, FE compared with multi-episode patients may show a broader range of treatment patterns, ranging from extremely good to very poor. Further, studies of FE patients may be very instructive about side effects, as the confounding effect of prior medication use is particularly important with side effects. Finally, data suggest that much of the deterioration (eg, more severe negative symptoms) associated with schizophrenia may occur during the 5 years following illness onset. Providing patients with better treatment at illness onset offers the hope of improving their long-term outcome.FE studies do have limitations. Relatively few new cases of schizophrenia occur each year. The typically chronic course of schizophrenia results in a large number of patients with multi-episode schizophrenia for every FE patient at any one time. Recruitment for studies of FE schizophrenia compared with those of multi-episode schizophrenia is often more difficult given the smaller number of available patients. We systematically know less about the treatment of FE patients than we do about the treatment of multi-episode patients.


BJPsych Open ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 7 (S1) ◽  
pp. S117-S117
Author(s):  
Pei Ling Lim ◽  
Roselyne Shirley ◽  
Pat Fong

ObjectiveIn this report, we present a case series of children with psychotic symptoms referred to a child consultation liaison psychiatric service within a tertiary paediatric hospital in Singapore. The purpose of this case series is to identify common symptoms at presentation, review the current practices in our hospital for investigation and treatment of first episode psychosis and short-term outcomes.Case reportWe identified 9 cases over a 1 year period, for which 7 were seen whilst admitted to hospital and 2 in the outpatient clinic. There were 6 females and 5 males ranging in age from 11 to 16 years old. The commonest symptoms on presentation were perceptual disturbance (88%) most commonly auditory hallucinations and altered behaviour (55%). Of the 7 children admitted to hospital, all were seen by the neurology team prior to the request for a psychiatric opinion. All admitted patients had blood and radiological investigations carried out. Most of the children were started on a short course of antipsychotic medication with the majority continuing to attend follow-up outpatient.DiscussionOnly 9 cases were identified in this case series over a 1 year period highlighting that psychosis is not a common presentation in the paediatric population. From the history alone, it can be challenging to distinguish between primary and secondary causes of psychosis. Acute onset of symptoms and the presence of other neurological signs should raise the suspicion of an underlying organic cause. Out of 9 cases, only 1 case was treated for a presumed organic aetiology, which is consistent with findings from other authors who only found underlying organic factors in 12.5% of cases.In this case series, we also noted that 45% of cases reported having symptoms for over 1 year before seeking help. This is also seen in the adult population in Singapore. Stigma, denial and lack of information about psychosis may all contribute to delay in seeking help. Although prolonged duration of untreated psychosis has been shown to be associated with poor long-term outcome, we found in our case series that even patients who reported a long duration of symptoms still responded well to medication.ConclusionThere is room for collaboration with our neurology colleagues in the approach towards children with first presentation of psychosis, both in terms of investigations and management. Identifying reasons for disengagement from psychiatric care is an area for further investigations to improve outcomes in our patients.


2018 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
pp. 218
Author(s):  
Nishant Mittal ◽  
Ankit Parakh ◽  
Prashant Jain ◽  
N. K. Mittal

Congenital lobar emphysema (CLE) is a congenital condition characterized by distension and air trapping of the affected lobe of the lung. It is one of the causes of infantile respiratory distress, which may require surgical resection of affected lobe. Case characteristics: 3-day-old neonate with ventilation refractory respiratory distress. Imaging was suggestive of decreased lung tissue on the right side with ipsilateral mediastinal shift. Intervention/ outcome: Early surgical lobectomy was done to improve lung functions and the child improved dur to early intervention. Message: An early diagnosis with high index of suspicion helps patients with this rare congenital anomaly. Early intervention is the key to good long-term outcome. More awareness about the entity and treatment options available would greatly help improving the outcome and disease burden.


2014 ◽  
Vol 45 (6) ◽  
pp. 1181-1193 ◽  
Author(s):  
S. K. W. Chan ◽  
H. C. So ◽  
C. L. M. Hui ◽  
W. C. Chang ◽  
E. H. M. Lee ◽  
...  

Background.Despite evidence on the short-term benefits of early intervention (EI) service for psychosis, long-term outcome studies are limited by inconsistent results. This study examined the 10-year outcomes of patients with first-episode psychosis who received 2-year territory-wide EI service compared to those who received standard care (SC) in Hong Kong using an historical control design.Method.Consecutive patients who received the EI service between 1 July 2001 and 30 June 2002, and with diagnosis of schizophrenia-spectrum disorders, were identified and matched with patients who received SC first presented to the public psychiatric service from 1 July 2000 to 30 June 2001. In total, 148 matched pairs of patients were identified. Cross-sectional information on symptomatology and functioning was obtained through semi-structured interview; longitudinal information on hospitalization, functioning, suicide attempts, mortality and relapse over 10 years was obtained from clinical database. There were 70.3% (N = 104) of SC and 74.3% (N = 110) of EI patients interviewed.Results.Results suggested that EI patients had reduced suicide rate (χ2(1) = 4.35, p = 0.037), fewer number [odds ratio (OR) 1.56, χ2 = 15.64, p < 0.0001] and shorter duration of hospitalization (OR 1.29, χ2 = 4.06, p = 0.04), longer employment periods (OR −0.28, χ2 = 14.64, p < 0.0001) and fewer suicide attempts (χ2 = 11.47, df = 1, p = 0.001) over 10 years. At 10 years, no difference was found in psychotic symptoms, symptomatic remission and functional recovery.Conclusions.The short-term benefits of the EI service on number of hospitalizations and employment was sustained after service termination, but the differences narrowed down. This suggests the need to evaluate the optimal duration of the EI service.


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