Assessing the Impact on Patient Health of Attending a Day Treatment Programme for Eating Disorders

Objectives: Adolescents with substance use disorders (SUDs) exhibit high rates of comorbid psychological problems. This study aimed to examine the impact of an outpatient substance use treatment programme upon the psychological wellbeing of adolescents. Methods: A prospective study was carried out examining psychological symptoms in a group of adolescents attending the Youth Drug and Alcohol (YoDA) Addiction Service in Dublin. Participants were treated with evidenced based psychological models such as cognitive behavioural therapy, motivational interviewing and systemic family therapy. The Becks Youth Inventory was utilised to assess psychological symptoms at treatment entry and repeated three months later at follow up. Results: Among 36 adolescents who were included in this study, poly-substance misuse was the norm. Almost three-quarter had a cannabis use disorder (CUD). There were significant reductions in mean subscale scores of depression (56.0 to 50.8, p = 0.003), anger (55.2 to 49.5, p < 0.001) and disruptive behaviour (61.6 to 56.5, p = 0.002) at follow up. Although there wasn’t a statistically significant reduction in mean scores for anxiety, we observed a significant proportion of participants (p = 0.008) improving and moving out of a moderate to severe symptom range when examined by category. This was also the case for self-concept (p = 0.04). Furthermore this study revealed a positive correlation between the reduction in days of cannabis use and reduction in depressive scores (Pearson correlation 0.49, p = 0.01) among those with a CUD. Conclusion: The findings indicate that substance use treatment for adolescents is associated with important psychological and behavioural improvements.

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Psychopathology and Somatic Complaints: A Cross-Sectional Study with Portuguese Adults

Healthcare ◽

10.3390/healthcare9040478 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 9 (4) ◽

pp. 478

Author(s):

Joana Proença Becker ◽

Rui Paixão ◽

Manuel João Quartilho

Keyword(s):

Early Detection ◽

Short Form ◽

Female Gender ◽

Cross Sectional Study ◽

Physical Symptoms ◽

Brief Symptom Inventory ◽

Cross Sectional ◽

Psychopathological Symptoms ◽

Patient Health ◽

The Impact

(1) Background: Functional somatic symptoms (FSS) are physical symptoms that cannot be fully explained by medical diagnosis, injuries, and medication intake. More than the presence of unexplained symptoms, this condition is associated with functional disabilities, psychological distress, increased use of health services, and it has been linked to depressive and anxiety disorders. Recognizing the difficulty of diagnosing individuals with FSS and the impact on public health systems, this study aimed to verify the concomitant incidence of psychopathological symptoms and FSS in Portugal. (2) Methods: For this purpose, 93 psychosomatic outpatients (91.4% women with a mean age of 53.9 years old) and 101 subjects from the general population (74.3% women with 37.8 years old) were evaluated. The survey questionnaire included the 15-item Patient Health Questionnaire, the 20-Item Short Form Survey, the Brief Symptom Inventory, the Depression, Anxiety and Stress Scale, and questions on sociodemographic and clinical characteristics. (3) Results: Increases in FSS severity were correlated with higher rates of depression, anxiety, and stress symptoms. The findings also suggest that increased rates of FSS are associated with lower educational level and female gender. (4) Conclusion: Being aware of the relationship between FSS and psychopathological symptoms and the need to explore psychosocial issues during clinical interviews may favor early detection of these cases. The early detection of mental disorders is essential for individuals’ adherence to treatments, reflecting on healthcare costs.

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Understanding adherence to reactive treatment of asymptomatic malaria infections in The Gambia

Scientific Reports ◽

10.1038/s41598-021-81468-1 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 11 (1) ◽

Author(s):

Fatou Jaiteh ◽

Joseph Okebe ◽

Yoriko Masunaga ◽

Umberto D’Alessandro ◽

Jane Achan ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Day Treatment ◽

Treatment Completion ◽

Clinical Malaria ◽

Research Process ◽

The Gambia ◽

Individual Compound ◽

Asymptomatic Malaria ◽

High Coverage ◽

Major Health Problem ◽

The Impact

AbstractThe impact of different types of reactive case detection and/or treatment strategies for malaria elimination depends on high coverage and participants’ adherence. However, strategies to optimise adherence are limited, particularly for people with asymptomatic or no infections. As part of a cluster-randomized trial to evaluate the effect of reactive treatment in The Gambia, all residents in the compound of a diagnosed clinical malaria patient received dihydro-artemisinin–piperaquine (DP). Using a mixed method approach, we assessed which factors contribute to adherence among the contacts of malaria cases that showed no symptoms. Adherence was defined as the proportion of compound members that (1) returned all medicine bags empty and (2) self-reported (3-day) treatment completion. Among the 273 individuals from 14 compounds who received DP, 227 (83.1%) were available for and willing to participate in the survey; 85.3% (233/273) returned empty medicine bags and 91.6% (208/227) self-reported treatment completion. Although clinical malaria was not considered a major health problem, reported adherence was high. The drivers of adherence were the strong sense of responsibility towards protecting the individual, compound and the village. Adherence can be optimised through a transdisciplinary implementation research process of engaging communities to bridge the gap between research goals and social realities.

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