The Nottingham study of neurotic disorder: predictors of 12 year costs

The effect of environmental change, planned and unplanned life events on the long-term outcome of common mental disorders

PURPOSE

To examine the nature of positive and negative environmental change on clinical outcome in 210 patients presenting with anxiety and depression and followed up over 30 years.

METHODS

In addition to clinical assessments, major environmental changes, particularly after 12 and 30 years, were recorded in all patients by a combination of self-report and taped interviews. Environmental changes were separated into two major groups, positive or negative, determined by patient opinion.

RESULTS

In all analyses positive changes were found to be associated with better outcome at 12 years with respect to accommodation (P = 0.009), relationships (P = 007), and substance misuse (P = 0.003), with fewer psychiatric admissions (P = 0.011) and fewer social work contacts at 30 years (P = 0.043). Using a consolidated outcome measure positive changes were more likely than negative ones to be associated with a good outcome at 12 and 30 years (39% v 3.6% and 30.2% v 9.1%, respectively). Those with personality disorder at baseline had fewer positive changes (P = 0.018) than others at 12 years and fewer positive occupational changes at 30 years (P = 0.041). Service use was greatly reduced in those with positive events with 50-80% more time free of all psychotropic drug treatment (P < 0.001). Instrumental positive change had greater effects than imposed changes.

CONCLUSIONS

Positive environmental change has a favourable impact on clinical outcome in common mental disorders. Although studied naturalistically in this study the findings suggest that if harnessed as a therapeutic intervention, as in nidotherapy and social prescribing, it would yield therapeutic dividends.

Relationships between treatments received in the Nottingham Study of Neurotic Disorder over 30 years and personality status

We compared the drug treatments and health service contacts of anxious and depressed patients separated by personality disturbance in 200 patients over 30 years. Contact details with health professionals at 5, 12 and 30 years were recorded and analysed by multilevel models at all time points. Over 30 years, patients with dependent and anankastic personality disturbance and cothymia (the general neurotic syndrome) were 2.27 times more likely to receive selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) and new antidepressants (95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.22-4.24), particularly paroxetine, and were 1.6 weeks (95% CI: 1.2-2.3) longer on the drug than those without the syndrome. Similar results with SSRIs and new antidepressants in patients with personality disorder fell short of significance after adjusting for age, sex and DSM status. Most patients had a DSM diagnosis at follow-up points, and these had increased psychological treatment, psychiatric admissions, multiple drugs, SSRIs and new antidepressants. At later follow-up, most drug treatments decreased apart from psychological treatment, SSRIs and new antidepressants, and baseline personality disorder had little impact on treatment histories compared with others. We conclude that the (Galenic) general neurotic syndrome is associated with greater use of treatments in the long term, showing that combined personality and symptomatic pathology overcomes that of personality disorder alone.

The Development of the ICD-11 Classification of Personality Disorders: An Amalgam of Science, Pragmatism, and Politics

The nomenclature of personality disorders in the 11th revision of the International Classification of Diseases and Related Health Problems represents the most radical change in the classification history of personality disorders. A dimensional structure now replaces categorical description. It was argued by the Working Group that only a dimensional system was consistent with the empirical evidence and, in the spirit of clinical utility, the new system is based on two steps. The first step is to assign one of five levels of severity, and the second step is to assign up to five prominent domain traits. There was resistance to this structure from those who feel that categorical diagnosis, particularly of borderline personality disorder, should be retained. After lengthy discussion, described in detail here, there is now an option for a borderline pattern descriptor to be selected as a diagnostic option after severity has been determined.

Psychological therapies versus pharmacological interventions for panic disorder with or without agoraphobia in adults

BACKGROUND

Panic disorder is common and deleterious to mental well-being. Psychological therapies and pharmacological interventions are both used as treatments for panic disorder with and without agoraphobia. However, there are no up-to-date reviews on the comparative efficacy and acceptability of the two treatment modalities, and such a review is necessary for improved treatment planning for this disorder.

OBJECTIVES

To assess the efficacy and acceptability of psychological therapies versus pharmacological interventions for panic disorder, with or without agoraphobia, in adults.

SEARCH METHODS

We searched the Cochrane Common Mental Disorders Group Specialised Register on 11 September 2015. This register contains reports of relevant randomised controlled trials from the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials (CENTRAL), MEDLINE (1950 to present), Embase (1974 to present), and PsycINFO (1967 to present). We cross-checked reference lists of relevant papers and systematic reviews. We did not apply any restrictions on date, language, or publication status.

SELECTION CRITERIA

We included all randomised controlled trials comparing psychological therapies with pharmacological interventions for panic disorder with or without agoraphobia as diagnosed by operationalised criteria in adults.

DATA COLLECTION AND ANALYSIS

Two review authors independently extracted data and resolved any disagreements in consultation with a third review author. For dichotomous data, we calculated risk ratios (RR) with 95% confidence intervals (CI). We analysed continuous data using standardised mean differences (with 95% CI). We used the random-effects model throughout.

MAIN RESULTS

We included 16 studies with a total of 966 participants in the present review. Eight of the studies were conducted in Europe, four in the USA, two in the Middle East, and one in Southeast Asia.None of the studies reported long-term remission/response (long term being six months or longer from treatment commencement).There was no evidence of a difference between psychological therapies and selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) in terms of short-term remission (RR 0.85, 95% CI 0.62 to 1.17; 6 studies; 334 participants) or short-term response (RR 0.97, 95% CI 0.51 to 1.86; 5 studies; 277 participants) (very low-quality evidence), and no evidence of a difference between psychological therapies and SSRIs in treatment acceptability as measured using dropouts for any reason (RR 1.33, 95% CI 0.80 to 2.22; 6 studies; 334 participants; low-quality evidence).There was no evidence of a difference between psychological therapies and tricyclic antidepressants in terms of short-term remission (RR 0.82, 95% CI 0.62 to 1.09; 3 studies; 229 participants), short-term response (RR 0.75, 95% CI 0.51 to 1.10; 4 studies; 270 participants), or dropouts for any reason (RR 0.83, 95% CI 0.53 to 1.30; 5 studies; 430 participants) (low-quality evidence).There was no evidence of a difference between psychological therapies and other antidepressants in terms of short-term remission (RR 0.90, 95% CI 0.48 to 1.67; 3 studies; 135 participants; very low-quality evidence) and evidence that psychological therapies did not significantly increase or decrease the short-term response over other antidepressants (RR 0.96, 95% CI 0.67 to 1.37; 3 studies; 128 participants) or dropouts for any reason (RR 1.55, 95% CI 0.91 to 2.65; 3 studies; 180 participants) (low-quality evidence).There was no evidence of a difference between psychological therapies and benzodiazepines in terms of short-term remission (RR 1.08, 95% CI 0.70 to 1.65; 3 studies; 95 participants), short-term response (RR 1.58, 95% CI 0.70 to 3.58; 2 studies; 69 participants), or dropouts for any reason (RR 1.12, 95% CI 0.54 to 2.36; 3 studies; 116 participants) (very low-quality evidence).There was no evidence of a difference between psychological therapies and either antidepressant alone or antidepressants plus benzodiazepines in terms of short-term remission (RR 0.86, 95% CI 0.71 to 1.05; 11 studies; 663 participants) and short-term response (RR 0.95, 95% CI 0.76 to 1.18; 12 studies; 800 participants) (low-quality evidence), and there was no evidence of a difference between psychological therapies and either antidepressants alone or antidepressants plus benzodiazepines in terms of treatment acceptability as measured by dropouts for any reason (RR 1.08, 95% CI 0.77 to 1.51; 13 studies; 909 participants; very low-quality evidence). The risk of selection bias and reporting bias was largely unclear. Preplanned subgroup and sensitivity analyses limited to trials with longer-term, quality-controlled, or individual psychological therapies suggested that antidepressants might be more effective than psychological therapies for some outcomes.There were no data to contribute to a comparison between psychological therapies and serotonin-norepinephrine reuptake inhibitors (SNRIs) and subsequent adverse effects.

AUTHORS' CONCLUSIONS

The evidence in this review was often imprecise. The superiority of either therapy over the other is uncertain due to the low and very low quality of the evidence with regard to short-term efficacy and treatment acceptability, and no data were available regarding adverse effects.The sensitivity analysis and investigation of the sources of heterogeneity indicated three possible influential factors: quality control of psychological therapies, the length of intervention, and the individual modality of psychological therapies.Future studies should examine the long-term effects after intervention or treatment continuation and should provide information on risk of bias, especially with regard to selection and reporting biases.

Impact of personality status on the outcomes and cost of cognitive-behavioural therapy for health anxiety

BACKGROUND

Health anxiety, hypochondriasis and personality disturbance commonly coexist. The impact of personality status was assessed in a secondary analysis of a randomised controlled trial (RCT).

AIMS

To test the impact of personality status using ICD-11 criteria on the clinical and cost outcomes of treatment with cognitive-behavioural therapy for health anxiety (CBT-HA) and standard care over 2 years.

METHOD

Personality dysfunction was assessed at baseline in 444 patients before randomisation and independent assessment of costs and outcomes made on four occasions over 2 years.

RESULTS

In total, 381 patients (86%) had some personality dysfunction with 184 (41%) satisfying the ICD criteria for personality disorder. Those with no personality dysfunction showed no treatment differences (P = 0.90) and worse social function with CBT-HA compared with standard care (P<0.03) whereas all other personality groups showed greater improvement with CBT-HA maintained over 2 years (P<0.001). Less benefit was shown in those with more severe personality disorder (P<0.05). Costs were less with CBT-HA except for non-significant greater differences in those with moderate or severe personality disorder.

CONCLUSIONS

The results contradict the hypothesis that personality disorder impairs response to CBT in health anxiety in both the short and medium term.

Psychological therapies for panic disorder with or without agoraphobia in adults: a network meta-analysis

BACKGROUND

Panic disorder is characterised by the presence of recurrent unexpected panic attacks, discrete periods of fear or anxiety that have a rapid onset and include symptoms such as racing heart, chest pain, sweating and shaking. Panic disorder is common in the general population, with a lifetime prevalence of 1% to 4%. A previous Cochrane meta-analysis suggested that psychological therapy (either alone or combined with pharmacotherapy) can be chosen as a first-line treatment for panic disorder with or without agoraphobia. However, it is not yet clear whether certain psychological therapies can be considered superior to others. In order to answer this question, in this review we performed a network meta-analysis (NMA), in which we compared eight different forms of psychological therapy and three forms of a control condition.

OBJECTIVES

To assess the comparative efficacy and acceptability of different psychological therapies and different control conditions for panic disorder, with or without agoraphobia, in adults.

SEARCH METHODS

We conducted the main searches in the CCDANCTR electronic databases (studies and references registers), all years to 16 March 2015. We conducted complementary searches in PubMed and trials registries. Supplementary searches included reference lists of included studies, citation indexes, personal communication to the authors of all included studies and grey literature searches in OpenSIGLE. We applied no restrictions on date, language or publication status.

SELECTION CRITERIA

We included all relevant randomised controlled trials (RCTs) focusing on adults with a formal diagnosis of panic disorder with or without agoraphobia. We considered the following psychological therapies: psychoeducation (PE), supportive psychotherapy (SP), physiological therapies (PT), behaviour therapy (BT), cognitive therapy (CT), cognitive behaviour therapy (CBT), third-wave CBT (3W) and psychodynamic therapies (PD). We included both individual and group formats. Therapies had to be administered face-to-face. The comparator interventions considered for this review were: no treatment (NT), wait list (WL) and attention/psychological placebo (APP). For this review we considered four short-term (ST) outcomes (ST-remission, ST-response, ST-dropouts, ST-improvement on a continuous scale) and one long-term (LT) outcome (LT-remission/response).

DATA COLLECTION AND ANALYSIS

As a first step, we conducted a systematic search of all relevant papers according to the inclusion criteria. For each outcome, we then constructed a treatment network in order to clarify the extent to which each type of therapy and each comparison had been investigated in the available literature. Then, for each available comparison, we conducted a random-effects meta-analysis. Subsequently, we performed a network meta-analysis in order to synthesise the available direct evidence with indirect evidence, and to obtain an overall effect size estimate for each possible pair of therapies in the network. Finally, we calculated a probabilistic ranking of the different psychological therapies and control conditions for each outcome.

MAIN RESULTS

We identified 1432 references; after screening, we included 60 studies in the final qualitative analyses. Among these, 54 (including 3021 patients) were also included in the quantitative analyses. With respect to the analyses for the first of our primary outcomes, (short-term remission), the most studied of the included psychological therapies was CBT (32 studies), followed by BT (12 studies), PT (10 studies), CT (three studies), SP (three studies) and PD (two studies).The quality of the evidence for the entire network was found to be low for all outcomes. The quality of the evidence for CBT vs NT, CBT vs SP and CBT vs PD was low to very low, depending on the outcome. The majority of the included studies were at unclear risk of bias with regard to the randomisation process. We found almost half of the included studies to be at high risk of attrition bias and detection bias. We also found selective outcome reporting bias to be present and we strongly suspected publication bias. Finally, we found almost half of the included studies to be at high risk of researcher allegiance bias.Overall the networks appeared to be well connected, but were generally underpowered to detect any important disagreement between direct and indirect evidence. The results showed the superiority of psychological therapies over the WL condition, although this finding was amplified by evident small study effects (SSE). The NMAs for ST-remission, ST-response and ST-improvement on a continuous scale showed well-replicated evidence in favour of CBT, as well as some sparse but relevant evidence in favour of PD and SP, over other therapies. In terms of ST-dropouts, PD and 3W showed better tolerability over other psychological therapies in the short term. In the long term, CBT and PD showed the highest level of remission/response, suggesting that the effects of these two treatments may be more stable with respect to other psychological therapies. However, all the mentioned differences among active treatments must be interpreted while taking into account that in most cases the effect sizes were small and/or results were imprecise.

AUTHORS' CONCLUSIONS

There is no high-quality, unequivocal evidence to support one psychological therapy over the others for the treatment of panic disorder with or without agoraphobia in adults. However, the results show that CBT - the most extensively studied among the included psychological therapies - was often superior to other therapies, although the effect size was small and the level of precision was often insufficient or clinically irrelevant. In the only two studies available that explored PD, this treatment showed promising results, although further research is needed in order to better explore the relative efficacy of PD with respect to CBT. Furthermore, PD appeared to be the best tolerated (in terms of ST-dropouts) among psychological treatments. Unexpectedly, we found some evidence in support of the possible viability of non-specific supportive psychotherapy for the treatment of panic disorder; however, the results concerning SP should be interpreted cautiously because of the sparsity of evidence regarding this treatment and, as in the case of PD, further research is needed to explore this issue. Behaviour therapy did not appear to be a valid alternative to CBT as a first-line treatment for patients with panic disorder with or without agoraphobia.

Psychiatric disorders after occupational injury among National Health Insurance enrollees in Taiwan

This study aimed to determine the incidence rates of psychiatric disorders within 1 year after occupational injury and to examine the association between occupational injury and the incidence of psychiatric disorders using National Health Insurance Research Database (NHIRD). We used cohort approach in this investigation. All eligible subjects were from the NHIRD, and aged 18-65 years old. A total of 542,208 patients were enrolled in this study. Among them, 1038 patients sustained occupational injury, 6891 patients sustained non-occupational injury. The reference group in this study was 534,279 patients who ever used the NHI for any medical condition in 2001. The incidence rates of any psychiatric disorders within 1 year after occupational injury (inpatient), occupational injury (outpatient), non-occupational injury (inpatient), non-occupational injury (outpatient), and any disease were 9.5%, 2.5%, 7.4%, 1.5%, and 1.1%, respectively. Occupational injury was found as a significant factor for developing psychiatric disorders within 1 year after the target injury. The incidence rate of any psychiatric disorders was higher in patients after occupational injury than those after non-occupational injury and any medical condition.

Economic costs of full-blown and subthreshold panic disorder

BACKGROUND

Data on the societal costs of mental disorders are necessary to inform health policies.

METHODS

This study assessed the costs of panic disorder and subthreshold panic disorder, compared these with costs of other mental disorders, and assessed the effects of (psychiatric and somatic) comorbidity and agoraphobia on the costs of panic. Using a large, population-based study in The Netherlands (n=5504), both medical and production costs were estimated from a societal perspective within a one-year timeframe.

RESULTS

Annual per capita costs of panic disorder were 10,269 euros, while subthreshold panic disorder generated 6384 euros. These costs were higher than those of the other mental disorders studied. About one quarter of the costs could be attributed to comorbidity. Agoraphobia was associated with higher costs.

LIMITATIONS

Methodological choices influence cost estimates. In the present study most of these will result in conservative cost estimates.

CONCLUSIONS

Panic thus causes substantial societal costs. Given the availability of effective treatment, treatment may not only benefit individual patients, but also have economic returns for society.

Economic costs of minor depression: a population-based study

OBJECTIVE

Although the clinical relevance of minor depression has been demonstrated in many studies, the economic costs are not well explored. In this study, we examine the economic costs of minor depression.

METHOD

In a large-scale, population-based study in the Netherlands (n = 5504) the costs of minor depression were compared with the costs of major depression and dysthymia. Excess costs, i.e. the costs of a disorder over and above the costs attributable to other illnesses, were estimated with help of regression analysis. The direct medical costs, the direct non-medical costs and the indirect non-medical costs were calculated. The year 2003 was used as the reference year.

RESULTS

The annual per capita excess costs of minor depression were US$ 2141 (95% CI = 753-3529) higher than the base rate costs of US$ 1023, while the costs of major depression were US$ 3313 (95% CI = 1234-5390) higher than the base rate. The costs of minor depression per 1 million inhabitants were 160 million dollars per year, which is somewhat less than the costs of major depression (192 million dollars per year).

CONCLUSION

The economic costs associated with minor depression are considerable and approach those of major depression.

Which factors affect the costs of psychiatric residential care? Findings from the Italian PROGRES study

In the latest years, mental hospitals have gradually been replaced by a community-based network of facilities, including non-hospital residential facilities (RFs). Little information is still available about their costs. Our aims were to estimate the costs of Italian RFs and to evaluate which factors affect the cost of RFs and their patients.

METHOD

A representative sample of 265 Italian RFs, hosting 2962 patients, was selected for the study. RFs costs and costs of psychiatric, medical and informal care were estimated.

RESULTS

Patients in RFs cost between 7851 and 34 650 US$ per year; to this amount, it should be added from 2032 to 4702 US$ per year for the community psychiatric services (CPS). Significant differences were found by facility type, geographical areas, number of beds and age and diagnosis. About 45% of the variability for RF costs and 19% for CPS costs was explained by the regression models.

CONCLUSION

The results can be useful to inform service planning and resource allocation.

Comorbid personality disorder and treatment use in a community sample of youths: a 20-year follow-up

OBJECTIVE

The impact of comorbid personality disorder (PD) on subsequent treatment and psychotropic drug use was examined in a representative sample of over 700 individuals.

METHOD

Axis I disorders and PD were assessed by self- and mother-report at mean ages 13 and 22 years, and by self-report at mean age 33. Mothers reported treatment use by participants before mean age 33; participants reported treatment and psychotropic drug use at mean age 33.

RESULTS

Individuals with multiple axis I disorders without PD, axis I disorder-PD comorbidity, and single disorders were compared simultaneously to individuals not diagnosed. Overall, odds of subsequent and past year treatment or psychotropic drug use or both were highest when PD co-occurred with a mood, an anxiety, a disruptive, or a substance use disorder.

CONCLUSION

Co-occurring personality pathology may contribute to elevated mental health service use, including use of psychotropic drugs, among young adults in the community.

Generalised anxiety disorder

Generalised anxiety disorder is a persistent and common disorder, in which the patient has unfocused worry and anxiety that is not connected to recent stressful events, although it can be aggravated by certain situations. This disorder is twice as common in women than it is in men. Generalised anxiety disorder is characterised by feelings of threat, restlessness, irritability, sleep disturbance, and tension, and symptoms such as palpitations, dry mouth, and sweating. These symptoms are recognised as part of the anxiety syndrome rather than independent complaints. The symptoms overlap greatly with those of other common mental disorders and we could regard the disorder as part of a spectrum of mood and related disorders rather than an independent disorder. Generalised anxiety disorder has a relapsing course, and intervention rarely results in complete resolution of symptoms, but in the short term and medium term, effective treatments include psychological therapies, such as cognitive behavioural therapy; self-help approaches based on cognitive behavioural therapy principles; and pharmacological treatments, mainly selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors.

Cost-utility of selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors for depression in primary care in Catalonia

OBJECTIVE

To determine the cost-utility of selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) for treating depressive disorders prescribed in primary care (PC).

METHOD

A total of 301 participants beginning antidepressant treatment with an SSRI were enrolled in a prospective 6-month follow-up naturalistic study. Incremental cost-utility ratios (ICUR) were obtained for several comparisons among different SSRIs. To address uncertainty in the ICUR's sampling distribution, non-parametric bootstrapping was carried out.

RESULTS

Taking into account adjusted total costs and incremental quality of life gained, fluoxetine dominated paroxetine and citalopram with 63.4% and 79.3% of the bootstrap replications in the dominance quadrant, respectively. Additionally, fluoxetine was cost-effective over sertraline with 83.4% of the bootstrap replications below the threshold of 33,936 US$/quality-adjusted life year (30,000 euro/QALY).

CONCLUSION

Fluoxetine seems to be a better cost-utility SSRI option for treating depressive disorders in PC.