Psychotic disorders are severe mental health conditions frequently associated with long-term disability, reduced quality of life and premature mortality. Early Intervention in Psychosis (EIP) services aim to provide timely, comprehensive packages of care for people with psychotic disorders. However, it is not clear which components of EIP services contribute most to the improved outcomes they achieve.

We aimed to identify associations between specific components of EIP care and clinically significant outcomes for individuals treated for early psychosis in England.

This national retrospective cohort study of 14 874 EIP individuals examined associations between 12 components of EIP care and outcomes over a 3-year follow-up period, by linking data from the National Clinical Audit of Psychosis (NCAP) to routine health outcome data held by NHS England. The primary outcome was time to relapse, defined as psychiatric inpatient admission or referral to a crisis resolution (home treatment) team. Secondary outcomes included duration of admissions, detention under the Mental Health Act, emergency department and general hospital attendances and mortality. We conducted multilevel regression analyses incorporating demographic and service-level covariates.

Smaller care coordinator case-loads and the use of clozapine for eligible people were associated with reduced relapse risk. Physical health interventions were associated with reductions in mortality risk. Other components, such as cognitive–behavioural therapy for psychosis (CBTp), showed associations with improvements in secondary outcomes.

Smaller case-loads should be prioritised and protected in EIP service design and delivery. Initiatives to improve the uptake of clozapine should be integrated into EIP care. Other components, such as CBTp and physical health interventions, may have specific benefits for those eligible. These findings highlight impactful components of care and should guide resource allocation to optimise EIP service delivery.

Patients with psychosis face an elevated risk of cardiovascular mortality and are more likely to disengage from care. While antipsychotics are essential for treatment, they further increase this risk. Despite this, Ghana lacks a national policy for monitoring cardiovascular risk factors in individuals on antipsychotics.

To evaluate disengagement in care and weight changes among newly diagnosed psychotic patients at Accra Psychiatric Hospital, and to inform clinical practice.

A retrospective review of medical records was conducted for patients newly diagnosed with non-affective psychotic disorders between June 2022 and May 2023. Patients were reviewed for 6 months, with assessments at baseline, 3 months and 6 months. Outcomes included antipsychotic prescription patterns, dropout rates, cardiovascular disease monitoring and weight changes. Descriptive statistics, multinomial logistic regression and linear mixed-effects models were used for analysis.

The number of patients disengaged from care within the first month was 53.1%, and within 6 months 75.5%; 62.8% received olanzapine at baseline. Weight gain was exponential, with 40% experiencing clinically significant weight gain at 3 months, increasing to 58% at 6 months. Less than 50% of patients had their blood sugar and lipid profiles checked before starting antipsychotics. Higher baseline weight was associated with increased weight over time (β = 0.96, t = 80, P < 0.001, 95% CI 0.93, 0.98).

High disengagement rates, low cardiovascular disease monitoring and exponential weight gain were observed. Targeted interventions, robust monitoring protocols and further research are needed to improve patient outcomes.

There is a significant mortality gap between the general population and people with psychosis. Completion rates of regular physical health assessments for cardiovascular risk in this group are suboptimal. Point-of-care testing (POCT) for diabetes and hyperlipidaemia – providing an immediate result from a finger-prick – could improve these rates.

To evaluate the impact on patient–clinician encounters and on physical health check completion rates of implementing POCT for cardiovascular risk markers in early intervention in psychosis (EIP) services in South East England.

A mixed-methods, real-world evaluation study was performed, with 40 POCT machines introduced across EIP teams in all eight mental health trusts in South East England from March to May 2021. Clinician training and support was provided. Numbers of completed physical health checks, HbA1c and lipid panel blood tests completed 6 and 12 months before and 6 months after introduction of POCT were collected for individual patients. Data were compared with those from the South West region, which acted as a control. Clinician questionnaires were administered at 2 and 8 months, capturing device usability and impacts on patient interactions.

Post-POCT, South East England saw significant increases in HbA1c testing (odds ratio 2.02, 95% CI 1.17–3.49), lipid testing (odds ratio 2.38, 95% CI 1.43–3.97) and total completed health checks (odds ratio 3.61, 95% CI 1.94–7.94). These increases were not seen in the South West. Questionnaires revealed improved patient engagement, clinician empowerment and patients’ preference for POCT over traditional blood tests.

POCT is associated with improvements in the completion and quality of physical health checks, and thus could be a tool to enhance holistic care for individuals with psychosis.

Scalable assessment tools for precision psychiatry are of increasing clinical interest. One clinical risk assessment that might be improved by such approaches is assessment of violence perpetration risk. This is an important adverse outcome to reduce for some people presenting to services for first-episode psychosis. A prediction tool (Oxford Mental Illness and Violence (OxMIV)) has been externally validated in these services, but clinical acceptability and role need to be examined and developed.

This study aimed to understand clinical use of the OxMIV tool to support violence risk management in early intervention in psychosis services in terms of acceptability to clinicians, patients and carers, practical feasibility, perceived utility, impact and role.

A mixed methods approach integrated quantitative data on utility and patterns of use of the OxMIV tool over 12 months in two services with qualitative data from interviews of 20 clinicians and 12 patients and carers.

The OxMIV tool was used 141 times, mostly in new assessments. Required information was available, with only family history items scored unknown to any notable degree. The OxMIV tool was deemed helpful by clinicians in most cases, especially if there were previous risk concerns. It was acceptable practically, and broadly for the service, for which its concordance with clinical judgement was important. Patients and carers thought it could improve openness. There was some limited impact on plans for clinical support.

The OxMIV tool met an identified clinical need to support clinical assessment for violence risk. Linkage to intervention pathways is a research priority.

Previous economic evidence about interventions for schizophrenia is outdated, non-transparent and/or limited to a specific clinical context.

We developed a de novo discrete event simulation (DES) model for estimating the cost-effectiveness of interventions in schizophrenia in the UK.

The DES model was developed based on the structure of previous models, populated with demographic, clinical and cost data from the UK, and antipsychotics' effects from recent network meta-analyses. We simulated treatment pathways for patients with first-episode schizophrenia including events such as relapse, remission, treatment discontinuation, cardiovascular disease and death and estimated costs (2020£) taking the National Health Service perspective and quality-adjusted life years (QALYs) over ten years. Using the model, we ranked ten first-line antipsychotics based on their QALYs and cost-effectiveness.

Amisulpride was associated with the highest QALYs, followed by risperidone long-acting injection (LAI), aripiprazole-LAI (6.121, 6.084, 6.070, respectively) and others (5.947–6.058). The most cost-effective antipsychotics were amisulpride, olanzapine and risperidone-LAI, with total probability of rankings of 1, ≤2, ≤3, that is, 95%, 89%, 80%, respectively; meanwhile, the least cost-effective were cariprazine, lurasidone and quetiapine, with total probability of rankings of 10, ≥9, ≥8, that is, 96%, 92%, 81%, respectively. Results were robust across sensitivity analyses and influenced primarily by relapse relevant parameters.

Our findings suggest amisulpride (or risperidone-LAI where oral treatment is inappropriate) as the best overall first-line option based on QALYs and cost-effectiveness. Our ranking may be used to guide decision-making between antipsychotics. Our model is open source and could be applied to the other settings.

Early intervention in psychosis (EIP) services improve outcomes for young people, but approximately 30% disengage.

To test whether a new motivational engagement intervention would prolong engagement and whether it was cost-effective.

We conducted a multicentre, single-blind, parallel-group, cluster randomised controlled trial involving 20 EIP teams at five UK National Health Service (NHS) sites. Teams were randomised using permuted blocks stratified by NHS trust. Participants were all young people (aged 14–35 years) presenting with a first episode of psychosis between May 2019 and July 2020 (N = 1027). We compared the novel Early Youth Engagement (EYE-2) intervention plus standardised EIP (sEIP) with sEIP alone. The primary outcome was time to disengagement over 12–26 months. Economic outcomes were mental health costs, societal costs and socio-occupational outcomes over 12 months. Assessors were masked to treatment allocation for primary disengagement and cost-effectiveness outcomes. Analysis followed intention-to-treat principles. The trial was registered at ISRCTN51629746.

Disengagement was low at 15.9% overall in standardised stand-alone services. The adjusted hazard ratio for EYE-2 + sEIP (n = 652) versus sEIP alone (n = 375) was 1.07 (95% CI 0.76–1.49; P = 0.713). The health economic evaluation indicated lower mental healthcare costs linked to reductions in unplanned mental healthcare with no compromise of clinical outcomes, as well as some evidence for lower societal costs and more days in education, training, employment and stable accommodation in the EYE-2 group.

We found no evidence that EYE-2 increased time to disengagement, but there was some evidence for its cost-effectiveness. This is the largest study to date reporting positive engagement, health and cost outcomes in a total EIP population sample. Limitations included high loss to follow-up for secondary outcomes and low completion of societal and socio-occupational data. COVID-19 affected fidelity and implementation. Future engagement research should target engagement to those in greatest need, including in-patients and those with socio-occupational goals.

Globally, stigma associated with mental, neurological and substance use (MNS) disorders is rampant and a barrier to good health and overall well-being of people with these conditions. Person-centred digital approaches such as participatory video may reduce stigma, but evidence on their effectiveness in Africa is absent.

To evaluate the effectiveness of participatory video in reducing mental health-related stigma in a resource-limited setting.

We evaluated the effectiveness of using participatory video and face-to-face interaction between people with MNS disorders and a target audience in lowering stigma among 420 people living in Kilifi, Kenya. Changes in knowledge, attitudes and behaviour (KAB) were measured by comparing baseline scores with scores immediately after watching the participatory videos and 4 months after the intervention. Sociodemographic correlates of stigma scores were examined using multivariable linear regression models.

Compared with baseline, KAB scores significantly improved at both time points, suggesting reduced stigma levels. At 4 months, the changes in scores were: knowledge (β = 0.20, 95% CI 0.16–0.25; P < 0.01), liberal attitude (β = 1.08, 95% CI 0.98–1.17; P < 0.01), sympathetic attitude (β = 0.52, 95% CI 0.42–0.62; P < 0.01), tolerant attitude (β = 0.72, 95% CI 0.61–0.83; P < 0.01) and behaviour (β = 0.37, 95% CI 0.31–0.43; P < 0.01). Sociodemographic variables were significantly correlated with KAB scores; the correlations were not consistent across the domains.

Participatory video is a feasible and effective strategy in improving knowledge, attitudes and intended behaviour in a resource-limited setting. Further studies are required to understand the mechanisms through which it lowers stigma and to examine long-term sustainability and the effectiveness of multicomponent interventions.

An Early Intervention in Psychosis (EIP) service offers treatment in the community to people with a first episode of psychosis. EIP is meant to be given for three years; after this time, those who are well are discharged to their GP, while those with ongoing symptoms and care needs are transferred to a general community mental health team. People can become unwell at this time of change and might benefit from longer treatment with EIP. We also know that some people who are well could possibly have been discharged back to their GP earlier. The EXTEND programme aims to develop a more tailored approach to EIP services based on the needs of each individual and understand the health, social, and cost-benefits of this approach.

This qualitative study sits within a larger programme of work. Ethics and HRA approvals gained. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with health care professionals from primary and specialist care, managers and commissioners, to understand why and how decisions about duration of EIP care are made. Interviews have been transcribed and thematic analysis using principles of constant comparison is being conducted. Patient and public involvement is key to all stages of the study.

Five interviews with General Practitioners and twelve interviews with EIP healthcare professionals, managers and commissioners have been conducted. Initial analysis suggests that access to EIP services can be challenging. Initial engagement is needed before therapy can begin. Decisions about duration of care can depend upon availability of access to Community Mental Health teams. Discharge planning rarely involves communication between primary and specialist care, and this can be a difficult transition, particularly when discharge is back to primary care. The pathway back into mental health care following discharge can be difficult. Trusting relationships between service users and EIP professionals are key to the success of EIP care. Healthcare professionals would value - and in some cases are given - flexibility to extend EIP care beyond 3 years.

We have developed a model to illustrate the patient journey through the EIP service which will be presented for the first time at the conference.

This research provides a framework to understand decision-making around duration of care, discharge planning and practices, and post-discharge support for EIP service users. The next phase of the study will be interviews with service users and carers to explore their experiences of EIP services, duration of care and discharge planning.

Stigma against persons with mental illness is a universal phenomenon, but culture influences the understanding of etiology of mental illness and utilization of health services.

We validated Kiswahili versions of three measures of stigma which were originally developed in the United Kingdom: Community Attitudes Toward the Mentally Ill Scale (CAMI), Reported and Intended Behaviors Scale (RIBS) and Mental Health Awareness Knowledge Schedule (MAKS) and evaluated their psychometric properties using a community sample (N = 616) in Kilifi, Kenya.

Confirmatory factor analysis confirmed the one-factor solution for RIBS [root mean-squared error of approximation (RMSEA) < 0.01, comparative fit index (CFI) = 1.00, Tucker–Lewis index (TLI) = 1.01] and two-factor solution for MAKS (RMSEA = 0.04, CFI = 0.96, TLI = 0.95). A 23-item, three-factor model provided the best indices of goodness of fit for CAMI (RMSEA = 0.04, CFI = 0.90, TLI = 0.89). MAKS converged with both CAMI and RIBS. Internal consistency was good for the RIBS and acceptable for CAMI and MAKS. Test–retest reliabilities were excellent for RIBS and poor for CAMI and MAKS, but kappa scores for inter-rater agreement were relatively low for these scales. Results support validity of the original MAKS and RIBS scale and a modified CAMI scale and suggest that stigma is not an enduring trait in this population. The low kappa scores are consistent with first kappa paradox which is due to adjustment for agreements by chance in case of marginal prevalence values.

Kiswahili versions of the MAKS, RIBS and a modified version of the CAMI are valid for use in the study population. Stigma against people with mental illness may not be an enduring trait in this population.

Deterioration in general population mental health since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic has been reported, but the impact of the pandemic on people with severe mental illness (SMI) has received less attention.

To understand the impact of the early stages of the pandemic on the patients with SMI, in terms of provision of mental health care and patient outcomes.

We examined records of 34,446 patients with SMI in Oxford Health Foundation Trust between March 2016 and July 2020. We used interrupted time-series analysis to estimate the immediate and subsequent changes in weekly rates of the use of community mental health services, hospitalization, and patient outcomes (as measured by Health of the Nation Outcome Scales, or HoNOS, scores) during the weeks of lockdown between March 23, 2020 and July 3, 2020.

Mean total HoNOS scores for all patients deteriorated in the weeks subsequent to lockdown (0.060 per week; 95%CI: 0.033, 0.087). Scores for patients with a history of psychosis deteriorated immediately (0.63; 95% CI: 0.26, 1.0). There was an immediate decrease in weekly referrals to community and outpatient services (−196; 95%CI: −300, −91) and no immediate change in weekly inpatient admissions (−4.2; 95%CI: −9.9, 1.5) or weekly total contacts (−26; 95%CI: −475, 423).

Patients with SMI were negatively impacted during the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic. Patients with a history of psychosis experienced distinct and immediate impacts. During the same period, referrals to community and outpatient services fell with no consequent impact on inpatient admissions.

Physical health outcomes in severe mental illness are worse than in the general population. Routine physical health check completion in this group is poor.

To quantitatively and qualitatively evaluate the impact of point of care (POC) blood testing on physical health check completion in community mental health services.

In a prospective cohort design, we equipped an early intervention service (EIS) and a community mental health team (CMHT) with a POC blood testing device for 6 months. We compared rates of blood test and full physical health check completion in the intervention teams with a matched EIS and CMHT, historically and during the intervention. We explored attitudes to POC testing using thematic analysis of semi-structured interviews with patients and clinicians.

Although the CMHT scarcely used the POC device and saw no change in outcomes, direct comparison of testing rates in the intervention period showed increased physical health check completion in the EIS with the device (rate ratio RR = 5.18; 95% CI 2.54–12.44; P < 0.001) compared with usual care. The rate was consistent with the EIS's increasing rate of testing over time (RR = 0.45; 95% 0.09–2.08; P = 0.32). Similar trends were seen in blood test completion. POC testing was acceptable to patients but clinicians reported usability, provision and impact on the therapeutic relationship as barriers to uptake.

POC testing was beneficial and acceptable to patients and may increase physical health check uptake. Further research, accounting for clinician barriers, is needed to evaluate its clinical and cost-effectiveness.

Autoimmune encephalitis (AE) is an important consideration during the diagnostic work-up of secondary mental disorders. Indeed, isolated psychiatric syndromes have been described in case reports of patients with underlying AE. Therefore, the authors performed a systematic literature review of published cases with AE that have predominant psychiatric/neurocognitive manifestations. The aim of this paper is to present the clinical characteristics of these patients.

The authors conducted a systematic Medline search via Ovid, looking for case reports/series of AEs with antineuronal autoantibodies (Abs) against cell surface/intracellular antigens combined with predominant psychiatric/neurocognitive syndromes. The same was done for patients with Hashimoto encephalopathy/SREAT. Only patients with signs of immunological brain involvement or tumors in their diagnostic investigations or improvement under immunomodulatory drugs were included.

We identified 145 patients with AE mimicking predominant psychiatric/neurocognitive syndromes. Of these cases, 64% were female, and the mean age among all patients was 43.9 (±22.1) years. Most of the patients had Abs against neuronal cell surface antigens (55%), most frequently against the NMDA-receptor (N = 46). Amnestic/dementia-like (39%) and schizophreniform (34%) syndromes were the most frequently reported. Cerebrospinal fluid changes were found in 78%, electroencephalography abnormalities in 61%, and magnetic resonance imaging pathologies in 51% of the patients. Immunomodulatory treatment was performed in 87% of the cases, and 94% of the patients responded to treatment.

Our findings indicate that AEs can mimic predominant psychiatric and neurocognitive disorders, such as schizophreniform psychoses or neurodegenerative dementia, and that affected patients can be treated successfully with immunomodulatory drugs.

The Norfolk Youth Service was created in 2012 in response to calls to redesign mental health services to better meet the needs of young people. The new service model transcends traditional boundaries by creating a single, ‘youth friendly’ service for young people aged 14–25 years. The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of the transition to this new model on patterns of referral, acceptance and service use. We analysed routinely collected data on young people aged 14–25 years referred for secondary mental healthcare in Norfolk before and after implementation of the youth mental health service. The number of referrals, their age and gender, proportion of referrals accepted and average number of service contacts per referral by age pre- and post-implementation were compared.

Referrals increased by 68% following implementation of the new service model, but the proportion of referrals accepted fell by 27 percentage points. Before implementation of the youth service, there was a clear discrepancy between the peak age of referral and the age of those seen by services. Following implementation, service contacts were more equitable across ages, with no marked discontinuity at age 18 years.

Our findings suggest that the transformation of services may have succeeded in reducing the ‘cliff edge’ in access to mental health services at the transition to adulthood. However, the sharp rise in referrals and reduction in the proportion of referrals accepted highlights the importance of considering possible unintended consequences of new service models.

None.

Early intervention in psychosis (EIP) services are the dominant service model in the treatment of first-episode psychosis. They are a time-limited intervention and little is known about discharge destinations and outcomes once EIP treatment has concluded.

To understand discharge pathways and predictors of relapse in an EIP service.

We collected data on all patients with an electronic health record treated by EIP services in Oxford Health NHS Foundation Trust in the UK between 12 January 2006 and 7 March 2017 (n = 701). Our primary outcomes were discharge destination at end of treatment and relapse.

Most patients (83.5%) were discharged to primary care. Transfer to secondary care was associated with previous in-patient admissions (odds ratio (OR) = 1.92, 95% CI 1.54–2.39) and longer EIP treatment (OR = 1.04, 95% CI 1.03–1.06). Relapse rate was highest shortly after leaving EIP services. Relapse was associated with transfer to secondary care (hazard ratio (HR) = 2.75, 95% CI 1.75–4.31), higher deprivation (HR = 1.03, 95% CI, 1.01–1.05), a substance misuse disorder (HR = 1.81, 95% CI 1.01–3.26) and a comorbid diagnosis of a personality disorder (HR = 2.96, 95% CI 1.39–6.29).

Most patients treated by the EIP service in Oxfordshire did not receive ongoing mental healthcare from secondary mental health services. We identified high deprivation and those with substance misuse problems or personality disorders as EIP populations with a high risk of relapse.

None.

None.

1. • Consider a spectrum of psychosis rather than a dichotomous concept of the disease (present/absent)

2. • Understand that, by preventing bullying, it may also be possible to prevent the development of psychotic symptoms

3. • Reflect that psychotherapy helps to integrate past stressful experiences with current symptoms, providing an alternative interpretation of them