Journal clubs

We were interested to read J. J. Hutchinson and A. Puranik (1992) on journal clubs at St Edward's Hospital, and would like to share our experience of running journal clubs in Sheffield. As stated, the College does not provide guidelines on the format of journal clubs, but they do provide a suggested reading list. While this contains interesting and relevant papers, it does not provide a good basis for a journal club programme.

International multi-site survey on the use of online support groups in bipolar disorder

BACKGROUND

Peer support is an established component of recovery from bipolar disorder, and online support groups may offer opportunities to expand the use of peer support at the patient's convenience. Prior research in bipolar disorder has reported value from online support groups.

AIMS

To understand the use of online support groups by patients with bipolar disorder as part of a larger project about information seeking.

METHODS

The results are based on a one-time, paper-based anonymous survey about information seeking by patients with bipolar disorder, which was translated into 12 languages. The survey was completed between March 2014 and January 2016 and included questions on the use of online support groups. All patients were diagnosed by a psychiatrist. Analysis included descriptive statistics and general estimating equations to account for correlated data.

RESULTS AND CONCLUSIONS

The survey was completed by 1222 patients in 17 countries. The patients used the Internet at a percentage similar to the general public. Of the Internet users who looked online for information about bipolar disorder, only 21.0% read or participated in support groups, chats, or forums for bipolar disorder (12.8% of the total sample). Given the benefits reported in prior research, clarification of the role of online support groups in bipolar disorder is needed. With only a minority of patients using online support groups, there are analytical challenges for future studies.

Study protocol for a randomised pragmatic trial comparing the clinical and cost effectiveness of lithium and quetiapine augmentation in treatment resistant depression (the LQD study)

BACKGROUND

Approximately 30-50% of patients with major depressive disorder can be classed as treatment resistant, widely defined as a failure to respond to two or more adequate trials of antidepressants in the current episode. Treatment resistant depression is associated with a poorer prognosis and higher mortality rates. One treatment option is to augment an existing antidepressant with a second agent. Lithium and the atypical antipsychotic quetiapine are two such add-on therapies and are currently recommended as first line options for treatment resistant depression. However, whilst neither treatment has been established as superior to the other in short-term studies, they have yet to be compared head-to-head in longer term studies, or with a superiority design in this patient group.

METHODS

The Lithium versus Quetiapine in Depression (LQD) study is a parallel group, multi-centre, pragmatic, open-label, patient randomised clinical trial designed to address this gap in knowledge. The study will compare the clinical and cost effectiveness of the decision to prescribe lithium or quetiapine add-on therapy to antidepressant medication for patients with treatment resistant depression. Patients will be randomised 1:1 and followed up over 12 months, with the hypothesis being that quetiapine will be superior to lithium. The primary outcomes will be: (1) time to all-cause treatment discontinuation over one year, and (2) self-rated depression symptoms rated weekly for one year via the Quick Inventory of Depressive Symptomatology. Other outcomes will include between group differences in response and remission rates, quality of life, social functioning, cost-effectiveness and the frequency of serious adverse events and side effects.

DISCUSSION

The trial aims to help shape the treatment pathway for patients with treatment resistant depression, by determining whether the decision to prescribe quetiapine is superior to lithium. Strengths of the study include its pragmatic superiority design, broad inclusion criteria (external validity) and longer follow up than previous studies.

TRIAL REGISTRATION

ISRCTN registry: ISRCTN16387615 , registered 28 February 2016. ClinicalTrials.gov: NCT03004521 , registered 17 November 2016.

Implementing tools to support evidence-based practice: a survey and brief intervention study of the National Elf Service across Oxford Health NHS Foundation Trust

BACKGROUND

Technology and the internet has enabled rapid access to research but most mental health professionals do not have time to keep up with the vast and growing scientific literature. Secondary information sources, such as the National Elf Service (NES), aim to summarise the most important and up-to-date research to improve mental health professionals' access to information to support evidence-based medicine (EBM).

OBJECTIVE

To explore mental health professionals' attitudes towards evidence-based practice and methods used to keep up-to-date with research. To promote use of a digital evidence-based platform (the National Elf Service), assess its use and explore its potential to impact clinical practice.

METHODS

Baseline and follow-up surveys were distributed among staff of 5 adult mental health community teams and 2 early intervention services (n=331) in Oxford Health Foundation Trust (OHFT) prior to and following an intervention raising awareness of the National Elf Service.

FINDINGS

Of 133 baseline survey responders, the majority of staff reported their clinical practice was informed by evidence, mostly using existing clinical guidelines and online resources. Few had used the National Elf Service. 122 staff members completed the follow-up survey. Postintervention, 42 staff members indicated they had used the National Elf Service (compared with 13 preintervention) and that it had improved access to research. Lack of time was most often the barrier restricting evidence-based practice.

CONCLUSIONS

Mental health professionals are engaged with EBM and those that used the National Elf Service felt it did, or could have the potential to impact on their clinical practice.

CLINICAL IMPLICATIONS

Barriers and challenges to implement EBM more widely suggest targeted efforts should be made to embed evidence-based practice into the working culture.

Ethical perspectives on recommending digital technology for patients with mental illness

The digital revolution in medicine not only offers exciting new directions for the treatment of mental illness, but also presents challenges to patient privacy and security. Changes in medicine are part of the complex digital economy based on creating value from analysis of behavioral data acquired by the tracking of daily digital activities. Without an understanding of the digital economy, recommending the use of technology to patients with mental illness can inadvertently lead to harm. Behavioral data are sold in the secondary data market, combined with other data from many sources, and used in algorithms that automatically classify people. These classifications are used in commerce and government, may be discriminatory, and result in non-medical harm to patients with mental illness. There is also potential for medical harm related to poor quality online information, self-diagnosis and self-treatment, passive monitoring, and the use of unvalidated smartphone apps. The goal of this paper is to increase awareness and foster discussion of the new ethical issues. To maximize the potential of technology to help patients with mental illness, physicians need education about the digital economy, and patients need help understanding the appropriate use and limitations of online websites and smartphone apps.

Antidepressant Controlled Trial For Negative Symptoms In Schizophrenia (ACTIONS): a double-blind, placebo-controlled, randomised clinical trial

BACKGROUND

Negative symptoms of schizophrenia represent deficiencies in emotional responsiveness, motivation, socialisation, speech and movement. When persistent, they are held to account for much of the poor functional outcomes associated with schizophrenia. There are currently no approved pharmacological treatments. While the available evidence suggests that a combination of antipsychotic and antidepressant medication may be effective in treating negative symptoms, it is too limited to allow any firm conclusions.

OBJECTIVE

To establish the clinical effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of augmentation of antipsychotic medication with the antidepressant citalopram for the management of negative symptoms in schizophrenia.

DESIGN

A multicentre, double-blind, individually randomised, placebo-controlled trial with 12-month follow-up.

SETTING

Adult psychiatric services, treating people with schizophrenia.

PARTICIPANTS

Inpatients or outpatients with schizophrenia, on continuing, stable antipsychotic medication, with persistent negative symptoms at a criterion level of severity.

INTERVENTIONS

Eligible participants were randomised 1 : 1 to treatment with either placebo (one capsule) or 20 mg of citalopram per day for 48 weeks, with the clinical option at 4 weeks to increase the daily dosage to 40 mg of citalopram or two placebo capsules for the remainder of the study.

MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES

The primary outcomes were quality of life measured at 12 and 48 weeks assessed using the Heinrich's Quality of Life Scale, and negative symptoms at 12 weeks measured on the negative symptom subscale of the Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale.

RESULTS

No therapeutic benefit in terms of improvement in quality of life or negative symptoms was detected for citalopram over 12 weeks or at 48 weeks, but secondary analysis suggested modest improvement in the negative symptom domain, avolition/amotivation, at 12 weeks (mean difference -1.3, 95% confidence interval -2.5 to -0.09). There were no statistically significant differences between the two treatment arms over 48-week follow-up in either the health economics outcomes or costs, and no differences in the frequency or severity of adverse effects, including corrected QT interval prolongation.

LIMITATIONS

The trial under-recruited, partly because cardiac safety concerns about citalopram were raised, with the 62 participants recruited falling well short of the target recruitment of 358. Although this was the largest sample randomised to citalopram in a randomised controlled trial of antidepressant augmentation for negative symptoms of schizophrenia and had the longest follow-up, the power of statistical analysis to detect significant differences between the active and placebo groups was limited.

CONCLUSION

Although adjunctive citalopram did not improve negative symptoms overall, there was evidence of some positive effect on avolition/amotivation, recognised as a critical barrier to psychosocial rehabilitation and achieving better social and community functional outcomes. Comprehensive assessment of side-effect burden did not identify any serious safety or tolerability issues. The addition of citalopram as a long-term prescribing strategy for the treatment of negative symptoms may merit further investigation in larger studies.

FUTURE WORK

Further studies of the viability of adjunctive antidepressant treatment for negative symptoms in schizophrenia should include appropriate safety monitoring and use rating scales that allow for evaluation of avolition/amotivation as a discrete negative symptom domain. Overcoming the barriers to recruiting an adequate sample size will remain a challenge.

TRIAL REGISTRATION

European Union Drug Regulating Authorities Clinical Trials (EudraCT) number 2009-009235-30 and Current Controlled Trials ISRCTN42305247.

FUNDING

This project was funded by the NIHR Health Technology Assessment programme and will be published in full in Health Technology Assessment; Vol. 20, No. 29. See the NIHR Journals Library website for further project information.

Big data for bipolar disorder

The delivery of psychiatric care is changing with a new emphasis on integrated care, preventative measures, population health, and the biological basis of disease. Fundamental to this transformation are big data and advances in the ability to analyze these data. The impact of big data on the routine treatment of bipolar disorder today and in the near future is discussed, with examples that relate to health policy, the discovery of new associations, and the study of rare events. The primary sources of big data today are electronic medical records (EMR), claims, and registry data from providers and payers. In the near future, data created by patients from active monitoring, passive monitoring of Internet and smartphone activities, and from sensors may be integrated with the EMR. Diverse data sources from outside of medicine, such as government financial data, will be linked for research. Over the long term, genetic and imaging data will be integrated with the EMR, and there will be more emphasis on predictive models. Many technical challenges remain when analyzing big data that relates to size, heterogeneity, complexity, and unstructured text data in the EMR. Human judgement and subject matter expertise are critical parts of big data analysis, and the active participation of psychiatrists is needed throughout the analytical process.

Improving the use and timeliness of anticoagulation reversal for warfarin related intracranial haemorrhage

BACKGROUND

Warfarin-related intracranial haemorrhage (WRICH) is a life-threatening complication of warfarin use. Rapid and complete reversal of the coagulopathy is required. Reversal protocols which include prothrombin complex concentrates (PCC) are now recommended. We report on a quality improvement project to implement and refine such a protocol.

METHODS

Retrospective and then prospective audits of all WRICH patients presenting to a single centre. The protocol development and subsequent refinements are described. Outcomes included times to scanning, treatment and overall door-needle times, as well as use of PCC.

RESULTS

Across the three cohorts, use of PCC increased over time from 15% to 100% of eligible patients (p<0.001). There were significant improvements in median time to scanning (1.9 to 1.5 to 1.3 hours, p=0.03) and median door-needle times (4.5 to 2.9 to 1.9 hours, p=0.018). Key steps in the change process included (1) identifying need for change, (2) utilising senior clinical opinion leaders, (3) using "Plan-do-study-act" cycles, (4) involvement of all relevant stakeholders, (5) having a broad implementation and education plan, (6) a "change friendly" environment and (7) collaborating across departments.

CONCLUSION

The introduction (and revisions) of an anticoagulation reversal strategy for WRICH has led to increased PCC use and reduced times to both diagnosis and treatment. Further work is required to improve door-needle times and monitoring.

Topiramate for acute affective episodes in bipolar disorder in adults

BACKGROUND

Bipolar disorder is a common recurrent illness with high levels of chronicity. Previous trials have suggested that the anticonvulsant topiramate may be efficacious in bipolar disorder. This is an update of a previous Cochrane review (last published 2006) on the role of topiramate in bipolar disorder.

OBJECTIVES

To assess the effects of topiramate for acute mood episodes in bipolar disorder in adults compared to placebo, alternative pharmacological treatment, and combination pharmacological treatment as measured by treatment of symptoms on specific rating scales for individual episodes.

SEARCH METHODS

We searched the Cochrane Depression, Anxiety and Neurosis Controlled Trials Register to 13 October 2015, which includes records from the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials (CENTRAL) all years; MEDLINE 1950-; EMBASE 1974-; and PsycINFO 1967-.We performed handsearching, reviewing of grey literature and reference lists, and correspondence with authors and pharmaceutical companies.

SELECTION CRITERIA

Randomised controlled trials comparing topiramate with placebo or with active agents in the treatment of acute mood episodes in adult male and female patients with bipolar disorder.

DATA COLLECTION AND ANALYSIS

Two review authors independently performed data extraction and methodological quality assessment. For analysis, we used odds ratio (OR) for binary efficacy outcomes and mean difference (MD) for continuously distributed outcomes.

MAIN RESULTS

This review included six studies with a total of 1638 male and female participants, of all ethnic backgrounds in both inpatient and outpatient settings. In five studies, participants were experiencing a manic or mixed episode, and in the other study the participants met the criteria for a depressive phase. Topiramate was compared with placebo and alternative pharmacological treatment as both monotherapy and as adjunctive treatment.Moderate-quality evidence showed topiramate to be no more or less efficacious than placebo as monotherapy, in terms of mean change on Young Mania Rating Scale (YMRS) (range 0 to 60), at endpoint 3 weeks (MD 1.17, 95% confidence interval (CI) -0.52 to 2.86; participants = 664; studies = 3; P = 0.17) and at endpoint 12 weeks (MD -0.58, 95% CI -3.45 to 2.29; participants = 212; studies = 1; P = 0.69; low-quality evidence). For the same outcome, low-quality evidence also showed topiramate to be no more or less efficacious than placebo as add-on therapy (endpoint 12 weeks) (MD -0.14, 95% CI -2.10 to 1.82; participants = 287; studies = 1; P = 0.89) in the treatment of manic and mixed episodes. We found high-quality evidence that lithium was more efficacious than topiramate as monotherapy in the treatment of manic and mixed episodes in terms of mean change on YMRS (range 0 to 60) (endpoint 12 weeks) (MD 8.46, 95% CI 5.86 to 11.06; participants = 449; studies = 2; P < 0.00001).For troublesome side effects experienced of any nature, we found no difference between topiramate and placebo as monotherapy (endpoint 12 weeks) (OR 0.68, 95% CI 0.33 to 1.40; participants = 212; studies = 1; P = 0.30; low-quality evidence) or as add-on therapy (endpoint 12 weeks) (OR 1.10, 95% CI 0.58 to 2.10; participants = 287; studies = 1; P = 0.76; low-quality evidence). In terms of participants experiencing side effects of any nature, we found no difference between topiramate and an alternative drug as monotherapy (endpoint 12 weeks) (OR 0.87, 95% CI 0.50 to 1.52; participants = 230; studies = 1; P = 0.63; low-quality evidence) or as add-on therapy (endpoint 8 weeks) (OR 1.57, 95% CI 0.42 to 5.90; participants = 36; studies = 1; P = 0.50; very low-quality evidence).We considered five of the studies to be at low risk of selection bias for random sequence generation, performance, detection, attrition, and reporting biases, and at unclear risk for allocation concealment and other potential sources of bias. We considered the McIntyre 2000 study to be at high risk of performance bias; unclear risk of bias for random sequence generation, allocation concealment, blinding of outcome assessment, and other potential sources of bias; and at low risk for attrition bias and reporting bias.

AUTHORS' CONCLUSIONS

It is not possible to draw any firm conclusions about the use of topiramate in clinical practice from this evidence. The only high-quality evidence found was that lithium is more efficacious than topiramate when used as monotherapy in the treatment of acute affective episodes in bipolar disorder, and we note that this evidence came from only two studies. Moderate-quality evidence showed that topiramate was no more or less efficacious than placebo as monotherapy when a 3-week endpoint was used, but the quality of the evidence for this outcome at a 12-week endpoint dropped to low. As we graded the quality of the evidence for the other findings as low and very low, it was not possible to draw any conclusions from the results.To best address this research question, if investigators see the indication in so doing, more double-blind randomised controlled trials could be conducted that are more explicit with regard to methodological issues. In particular, investigators could compare placebo, alternative, and combination treatments (including a wide range of mood stabilisers), atypical antipsychotics for manic and mixed episodes, and antidepressants in combination with mood stabilisers or atypical antipsychotics for depressive episodes.

Internet use by patients with bipolar disorder: Results from an international multisite survey

There is considerable international interest in online education of patients with bipolar disorder, yet little understanding of how patients use the Internet and other sources to seek information. 1171 patients with a diagnosis of bipolar disorder in 17 countries completed a paper-based, anonymous survey. 81% of the patients used the Internet, a percentage similar to the general public. Older age, less education, and challenges in country telecommunications infrastructure and demographics decreased the odds of using the Internet. About 78% of the Internet users looked online for information on bipolar disorder or 63% of the total sample. More years of education in relation to the country mean, and feeling very confident about managing life decreased the odds of seeking information on bipolar disorder online, while having attended support groups increased the odds. Patients who looked online for information on bipolar disorder consulted medical professionals plus a mean of 2.3 other information sources such as books, physician handouts, and others with bipolar disorder. Patients not using the Internet consulted medical professionals plus a mean of 1.6 other information sources. The percentage of patients with bipolar disorder who use the Internet is about the same as the general public. Other information sources remain important.

Cardiac troponin I concentrations in people presenting with diabetic ketoacidosis

Background: Elevated troponin concentrations may be observed in a wide spectrum of medical disorders in people without evidence of overt ischaemic heart disease. The prospective relationship between serum cardiac troponin I (cTnI) and diabetic ketoacidosis (DKA) has not been examined in adults.

Methods: Forty patients (14 male and 26 female) with type 1 diabetes were recruited. cTnI, creatine kinase (CK), cystatin C and beta-hydroxybutyrate were measured on admission and at 24, 48 and 72 h post-admission. Daily electrocardiographs were also performed.

Results: Four out of forty subjects presenting with DKA had an increase in cTnI (median (SD) 0.06 (0.31) μg/L). One of the subjects had multiple possible reasons for the elevated cTnI concentration. However, the other three subjects had no obvious precipitating factors. This cohort underwent echocardiography and thallium-201 scintigraphy, which revealed no abnormalities.

Conclusions: Minor troponin elevations appear to occur in a small number of subjects with type 1 diabetes presenting with DKA. The clinical relevance of this at this stage remains unknown and further large-scale studies are suggested.

The NeuroGrid Stroke Exemplar Clinical Trial Protocol

Rationale

Trials of new treatments for neurological disorders like stroke require imaging as part of the patient assessment, but need to be large enough to obtain reliable results if treatment effects are likely to be modest. However, multicentre trials use many different scanners in different hospitals and present complex problems for image data collection, interpretation and analysis and long-term secure archiving.

Aims

NeuroGrid aims to develop and test grid technologies for collecting, analysing and interpreting, and secure archiving of neuroimaging data for large multicentre trials in common neurological and psychiatric disorders.

Design

A 3-year multicentre consortium of clinicians, neuroimaging centres and e-scientists are designing a Grid storage network, mechanisms for uploading, curating and retrieving image and metadata, combining image data from different scanners and an analysis tool box. Three clinical exemplars – stroke, dementia and psychosis – provide the data and ‘real-world’ clinical trial applications, and a set of specific and typical problems encountered with image data in multicentre trials for NeuroGrid to address. The stroke exemplar is using image data from two multicentre stroke trials: Third International Stroke Trial and Efficacy of Nitric Oxide in Stroke.

Outcomes

The final product is intended to appear as an integrated capability consisting of services, both database and analyses, accessed through simple portals. These will include image submission, automated scan quality control, appropriate metadata linkage, streamlined image review and coding tools and long-term secure storage for future multicentre stroke trials.

Dietary advice for people with schizophrenia

BACKGROUND

People with serious mental illness have consistently higher levels of mortality and morbidity than the general population. They have greater levels of cardiovascular disease, metabolic disease, diabetes, and respiratory illness. Although genetics may have a role in the physical health problems of these people, lifestyle and environmental factors such as smoking, obesity, poor diet, and low levels of physical activity play a prominent part.

OBJECTIVES

To review the effects of dietary advice for schizophrenia and schizophrenia-like psychosis.

SEARCH METHODS

We searched the Cochrane Schizophrenia Group's Trials Register (September 09, 2013 and February 24, 2016).

SELECTION CRITERIA

We planned to include all randomised clinical trials focusing on dietary advice versus standard care.

DATA COLLECTION AND ANALYSIS

The review authors (RP, KTP) independently screened search results but did not identify any studies that fulfilled the review's criteria.

MAIN RESULTS

We did not identify any studies that met our inclusion criteria.

AUTHORS' CONCLUSIONS

Dietary advice has been shown to improve the dietary intake of the general population. Research is needed to determine whether dietary advice can have a similar benefit in people with serious mental illness.

Web-Based Violence Risk Monitoring Tool in Psychoses: Pilot Study in Community Forensic Patients

We describe the development and pilot testing of a novel, web-based, violence risk monitoring instrument for use in community patients with psychoses. We describe the development of the tool, including drawing on systematic reviews of the field, how item content was operationalized, the development of a user interface, and its subsequent piloting. Sixty-eight patients were included from three English counties, who had been discharged from forensic psychiatric services. Over 12 months, 310 questionnaires were completed on the sample by professionals from several disciplines and qualitative feedback collected relating to the use of the tool using an electronic survey. Strengths of this approach for risk assessment, and potential limitations and areas for future research, are discussed.

Big data are coming to psychiatry: a general introduction

Big data are coming to the study of bipolar disorder and all of psychiatry. Data are coming from providers and payers (including EMR, imaging, insurance claims and pharmacy data), from omics (genomic, proteomic, and metabolomic data), and from patients and non-providers (data from smart phone and Internet activities, sensors and monitoring tools). Analysis of the big data will provide unprecedented opportunities for exploration, descriptive observation, hypothesis generation, and prediction, and the results of big data studies will be incorporated into clinical practice. Technical challenges remain in the quality, analysis and management of big data. This paper discusses some of the fundamental opportunities and challenges of big data for psychiatry.

Dose Equivalents for Second-Generation Antipsychotic Drugs: The Classical Mean Dose Method

BACKGROUND

The concept of dose equivalence is important for many purposes. The classical approach published by Davis in 1974 subsequently dominated textbooks for several decades. It was based on the assumption that the mean doses found in flexible-dose trials reflect the average optimum dose which can be used for the calculation of dose equivalence. We are the first to apply the method to second-generation antipsychotics.

METHODS

We searched for randomized, double-blind, flexible-dose trials in acutely ill patients with schizophrenia that examined 13 oral second-generation antipsychotics, haloperidol, and chlorpromazine (last search June 2014). We calculated the mean doses of each drug weighted by sample size and divided them by the weighted mean olanzapine dose to obtain olanzapine equivalents.

RESULTS

We included 75 studies with 16 555 participants. The doses equivalent to 1 mg/d olanzapine were: amisulpride 38.3 mg/d, aripiprazole 1.4 mg/d, asenapine 0.9 mg/d, chlorpromazine 38.9 mg/d, clozapine 30.6 mg/d, haloperidol 0.7 mg/d, quetiapine 32.3mg/d, risperidone 0.4 mg/d, sertindole 1.1 mg/d, ziprasidone 7.9 mg/d, zotepine 13.2 mg/d. For iloperidone, lurasidone, and paliperidone no data were available.

CONCLUSIONS

The classical mean dose method is not reliant on the limited availability of fixed-dose data at the lower end of the effective dose range, which is the major limitation of "minimum effective dose methods" and "dose-response curve methods." In contrast, the mean doses found by the current approach may have in part depended on the dose ranges chosen for the original trials. Ultimate conclusions on dose equivalence of antipsychotics will need to be based on a review of various methods.

Efficacy of cognitive behavioural therapy for sleep improvement in patients with persistent delusions and hallucinations (BEST): a prospective, assessor-blind, randomised controlled pilot trial

BACKGROUND

Sleep disturbance occurs in most patients with delusions or hallucinations and should be treated as a clinical problem in its own right. However, cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT)-the best evidence-based treatment for insomnia-has not been tested in this patient population. We aimed to pilot procedures for a randomised trial testing CBT for sleep problems in patients with current psychotic experiences, and to provide a preliminary assessment of potential benefit.

METHODS

We did this prospective, assessor-blind, randomised controlled pilot trial (Better Sleep Trial [BEST]) at two mental health centres in the UK. Patients (aged 18-65 years) with persistent distressing delusions or hallucinations in the context of insomnia and a schizophrenia spectrum diagnosis were randomly assigned (1:1), via a web-based randomisation system with minimisation to balance for sex, insomnia severity, and psychotic experiences, to receive either eight sessions of CBT plus standard care (medication and contact with the local clinical team) or standard care alone. Research assessors were masked to group allocation. Assessment of outcome was done at weeks 0, 12 (post-treatment), and 24 (follow-up). The primary efficacy outcomes were insomnia assessed by the Insomnia Severity Index (ISI) and delusions and hallucinations assessed by the Psychotic Symptoms Rating Scale (PSYRATS) at week 12. We did analysis by intention to treat, with an aim to provide confidence interval estimation of treatment effects. This study is registered with ISRCTN, number 33695128.

FINDINGS

Between Dec 14, 2012, and May 22, 2013, and Nov 7, 2013, and Aug 26, 2014, we randomly assigned 50 patients to receive CBT plus standard care (n=24) or standard care alone (n=26). The last assessments were completed on Feb 10, 2015. 48 (96%) patients provided follow-up data. 23 (96%) patients offered CBT took up the intervention. Compared with standard care, CBT led to reductions in insomnia in the large effect size range at week 12 (adjusted mean difference 6.1, 95% CI 3.0-9.2, effect size d=1.9). By week 12, nine (41%) of 22 patients receiving CBT and one (4%) of 25 patients receiving standard care alone no longer had insomnia, with ISI scores lower than the cutoff for insomnia. The treatment effect estimation for CBT covered a range from reducing but also increasing delusions (adjusted mean difference 0.3, 95% CI -2.0 to 2.6) and hallucinations (-1.9, -6.5 to 2.7). Three patients, all in the CBT group, had five adverse events, although none were regarded as related to study treatment.

INTERPRETATION

Our findings show that CBT for insomnia might be highly effective for improving sleep in patients with persistent delusions or hallucinations. A larger, suitably powered phase 3 study is now needed to provide a precise estimate of the effects of CBT for sleep problems, both on sleep and psychotic experiences.

FUNDING

Research for Patient Benefit Programme, National Institute for Health Research.

Pharmacological treatment for psychotic depression

BACKGROUND

Evidence is limited regarding the most effective pharmacological treatment for psychotic depression: combination of an antidepressant plus an antipsychotic, monotherapy with an antidepressant or monotherapy with an antipsychotic. This is an update of a review first published in 2005 and last updated in 2009.

OBJECTIVES

1. To compare the clinical efficacy of pharmacological treatments for patients with an acute psychotic depression: antidepressant monotherapy, antipsychotic monotherapy and the combination of an antidepressant plus an antipsychotic, compared with each other and/or with placebo.2. To assess whether differences in response to treatment in the current episode are related to non-response to prior treatment.

SEARCH METHODS

A search of the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials and the Cochrane Depression, Anxiety and Neurosis Group Register (CCDANCTR) was carried out (to 12 April 2013). These registers include reports of randomised controlled trials from the following bibliographic databases: EMBASE (1970-), MEDLINE (1950-) and PsycINFO (1960-). Reference lists of all studies and related reviews were screened and key authors contacted.

SELECTION CRITERIA

All randomised controlled trials (RCTs) that included participants with acute major depression with psychotic features, as well as RCTs consisting of participants with acute major depression with or without psychotic features, that reported separately on the subgroup of participants with psychotic features.

DATA COLLECTION AND ANALYSIS

Two review authors independently extracted data and assessed risk of bias in the included studies, according to the criteria of the Cochrane Handbook for Systematic Reviews of Interventions. Data were entered into RevMan 5.1. We used intention-to-treat data. For dichotomous efficacy outcomes, the risk ratio (RR) with 95% confidence intervals (CIs) was calculated. For continuously distributed outcomes, it was not possible to extract data from the RCTs. Regarding the primary outcome of harm, only overall dropout rates were available for all studies.

MAIN RESULTS

The search identified 3659 abstracts, but only 12 RCTs with a total of 929 participants could be included in the review. Because of clinical heterogeneity, few meta-analyses were possible. The main outcome was reduction of severity (response) of depression, not of psychosis.We found no evidence for the efficacy of monotherapy with an antidepressant or an antipsychotic.However, evidence suggests that the combination of an antidepressant plus an antipsychotic is more effective than antidepressant monotherapy (three RCTs; RR 1.49, 95% CI 1.12 to 1.98, P = 0.006), more effective than antipsychotic monotherapy (four RCTs; RR 1.83, 95% CI 1.40 to 2.38, P = 0.00001) and more effective than placebo (two identical RCTs; RR 1.86, 95% CI 1.23 to 2.82, P = 0.003).Risk of bias is considerable: there were differences between studies with regard to diagnosis, uncertainties around randomisation and allocation concealment, differences in treatment interventions (pharmacological differences between the various antidepressants and antipsychotics) and different outcome criteria.

AUTHORS' CONCLUSIONS

Psychotic depression is heavily understudied, limiting confidence in the conclusions drawn. Some evidence indicates that combination therapy with an antidepressant plus an antipsychotic is more effective than either treatment alone or placebo. Evidence is limited for treatment with an antidepressant alone or with an antipsychotic alone.

Evidence-based guidelines for treating depressive disorders with antidepressants: A revision of the 2008 British Association for Psychopharmacology guidelines

A revision of the 2008 British Association for Psychopharmacology evidence-based guidelines for treating depressive disorders with antidepressants was undertaken in order to incorporate new evidence and to update the recommendations where appropriate. A consensus meeting involving experts in depressive disorders and their management was held in September 2012. Key areas in treating depression were reviewed and the strength of evidence and clinical implications were considered. The guidelines were then revised after extensive feedback from participants and interested parties. A literature review is provided which identifies the quality of evidence upon which the recommendations are made. These guidelines cover the nature and detection of depressive disorders, acute treatment with antidepressant drugs, choice of drug versus alternative treatment, practical issues in prescribing and management, next-step treatment, relapse prevention, treatment of relapse and stopping treatment. Significant changes since the last guidelines were published in 2008 include the availability of new antidepressant treatment options, improved evidence supporting certain augmentation strategies (drug and non-drug), management of potential long-term side effects, updated guidance for prescribing in elderly and adolescent populations and updated guidance for optimal prescribing. Suggestions for future research priorities are also made.