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Bipolar depression remains difficult to treat, and people often experience ongoing residual symptoms, decreased functioning and impaired quality of life. Adjunctive therapies targeting novel pathways can provide wider treatment options and improve clinical outcomes. Garcinia mangostana Linn. (mangosteen) pericarp has serotonogenic, antioxidant anti-inflammatory and neurogenic properties of relevance to the mechanisms of bipolar depression.
Aims
The current 28-week randomised, multisite, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial investigated mangosteen pericarp extract as an adjunct to treatment-as-usual for treatment of bipolar depression.
Method
This trial was prospectively registered on the Australia New Zealand Clinical Trials Registry (no. ACTRN12616000028404). Participants aged 18 years and older with a diagnosis of bipolar I or II and with at least moderate depressive symptoms were eligible for the study. A total of 1016 participants were initially approached or volunteered for the study, of whom 712 did not progress to screening, with an additional 152 screened out. Seventy participants were randomly allocated to mangosteen and 82 to a placebo control. Fifty participants in the mangosteen and 64 participants in the placebo condition completed the treatment period and were analysed.
Results
Results indicated limited support for the primary hypothesis of superior depression symptom reduction following 24 weeks of treatment. Although overall changes in depressive symptoms did not substantially differ between conditions over the course of the trial, we observed significantly greater improvements for the mangosteen condition at 24 weeks, compared with baseline, for mood symptoms, clinical impressions of bipolar severity and social functioning compared with controls. These differences were attenuated at week 28 post-discontinuation assessment.
Conclusions
Adjunctive mangosteen pericarp treatment appeared to have limited efficacy in mood and functional symptoms associated with bipolar disorder, but not with manic symptoms or quality of life, suggesting a novel therapeutic approach that should be verified by replication.
Recent changes to US research funding are having far-reaching consequences that imperil the integrity of science and the provision of care to vulnerable populations. Resisting these changes, the BJPsych Portfolio reaffirms its commitment to publishing mental science and advancing psychiatric knowledge that improves the mental health of one and all.
This paper reports on the third of a series of four experiments using similar concepts and methods for objective personality measurement, and overlapping test batteries. One hundred students were measured with 115 tests. The scores were correlated and factored by a re-iterated multiple group centroid method. The 17 factors thus obtained were rotated toward a clear simple structure. The relation of the rotated factors to earlier ones is indicated, but no extensive interpretation is attempted.
Attendance at university can result in social support network disruption. This can have a negative impact on the mental health of young people. Demand for mental health support continues to increase in universities, making identification of factors associated with poorer outcomes a priority. Although social functioning has a bi-directional relationship with mental health, its association with effectiveness of psychological treatments has yet to be explored.
Objectives
To explore whether students showing different trajectories of change in social function over the course of treatment differed in eventual treatment outcome.
Methods
Growth mixture models were estimated on a sample of 5221 students treated in routine mental health services. Different trajectories of change in self-rated impairment in social leisure activities and close relationships (Work and Social Adjustment Scale (WSAS) items 3 and 5) during the course of treatment were identified. Associations between trajectory classes and treatment outcomes were explored through multinomial regression.
Results
Five trajectory classes were identified for social leisure activity impairment (Figure 1), and three classes were identified for close relationship impairment (Figure 2). For both measures the majority of students remained mildly impaired (Class 1). Other trajectories included severe impairment with limited improvement (Class 2), severe impairment with delayed improvement (Class 3), and, in social leisure activities only, rapid improvement (Class 4), and deterioration (Class 5). There was an association between trajectories of improvement in social functioning over time and positive treatment outcomes. Trajectories of worsening or stable severe impairment were associated with negative treatment outcomes.
Image:
Image 2:
Conclusions
Changes in social functioning impairment are associated with psychological treatment outcomes in students, suggesting that these changes may be associated with treatment effectiveness or recovery experiences. Future research should look to establish whether a causal link exists to understand if additional benefit for students can be gained through integrating social support within psychological treatment.
Preeclampsia (PE) affects up to five times more women with pre-existing diabetes mellitus (PDM) than women without it. The present study aimed to identify the effect of the DASH diet on PE incidence (primary outcome) and blood pressure, glycated haemoglobin (GH), serum lipids, glutathione peroxidase (GP), C-reactive protein (CRP – secondary outcomes) in pregnant with PDM. This randomised, controlled, single-blind trial studied sixty-eight pregnant women with PDM throughout prenatal care until delivery (18 weeks) at a public maternity hospital, Brazil. The standard diet group (SDG) received a diet containing 45–65 % carbohydrates, 15–20 % protein and 25–30 % lipids. The DASH diet group (DDG) received the adapted DASH diet with a similar macronutrient distribution, but with a higher concentration of fibres, unsaturated fats, calcium, magnesium and potassium as well as lower saturated fat. Student's t, Mann–Whitney U and the Chi-square tests were used to compare outcomes. PE incidence was 22⋅9 % in the SDG and 12⋅1 % in the DDG (P = 0⋅25). GP levels significantly increased in the DDG (intra-group analysis; mean difference = 1588 [CI 181, 2994], P = 0⋅03) and tended to be different from the variation in the SDG (mean difference = −29⋅5 [CI −1305; 1⋅365]; v. DDG: 1588 [CI 181; 2994], P = 0⋅09). GH levels decreased significantly and similarly between groups (SDG: −0⋅61 [CI −0⋅26, −0⋅96], P = 0⋅00) v. DDG: −1⋅1 [CI −0⋅57, −1⋅62], P = 0⋅00). There was no evidence of a difference in PE incidence at the end of the intervention between the two diets. The DASH diet seems to favour PE-related biochemical markers.
Disturbances to sleep-wake patterns are associated with bipolar disorder (BD) and borderline personality disorder (BPD). Objective assessment typically involves actigraphy monitoring, although it may be possible to derive sleep-wake metrics from other digital data, such as smartphone battery degradation.
Objectives
To assess whether common actigraphy-derived phase markers of the sleep-wake pattern (L5 and M10 onset) are in agreement with measures derived from smartphone battery data and explore if battery metrics differ between people with BD, BPD , and a healthy control group (HC).
Methods
High frequency smartphone battery data was collected from 30 BD, 19 BPD and 33 HC participants enrolled in the Automated Monitoring of Symptom Severity (AMoSS) study, over 28 days. Participants also wore an actigraph during this period. L5 and M10 values were calculated separately based on the rate of smartphone battery degradation and conventional actigraphy methods. Bland-Altman analyses were performed to assess agreement between battery-derived and actigraphy-derived values, and Kruskal-Wallis tests used to compare diagnostic groups.
Results
For L5, battery-derived and actigraphy-derived values had a bias of 0.46 [-0.10, 1.02], upper limit of agreement (LOA): 5.45 [4.49, 6.41], and lower LOA: -4.53 [-3.56, -5.49]. For M10, the bias was 0 [-0.92, 0.92], upper LOA: 8.19 [6.61, 9.76], and lower LOA: -8.19 [-6.61, -9.76]. Between diagnostic groups, there was no difference for battery-derived M10 (p=0.652), or L5 (p=0.122).
Conclusions
Our results suggest battery-derived and actigraphy-derived M10 and L5 show good overall equivalence. However, battery-derived methods exhibit large variability, which limits the clinical utility of smartphone battery data to infer sleep-wake metrics.
Sleep disturbances are important symptoms to monitor in people with bipolar disorder (BD) but the precise longitudinal relationships between sleep and mood remain unclear. We aimed to examine associations between stable and dynamic aspects of sleep and mood in people with BD, and assess individual differences in the strength of these associations.
Methods
Participants (N = 649) with BD-I (N = 400) and BD-II (N = 249) provided weekly self-reports of insomnia, depression and (hypo)mania symptoms using the True Colours online monitoring tool for 21 months. Dynamic structural equation models were used to examine the interplay between weekly reports of insomnia and mood. The effects of clinical and demographic characteristics on associations were also assessed.
Results
Increased variability in insomnia symptoms was associated with increased mood variability. In the sample as a whole, we found strong evidence of bidirectional relationships between insomnia and depressive symptoms but only weak support for bidirectional relationships between insomnia and (hypo)manic symptoms. We found substantial variability between participants in the strength of prospective associations between insomnia and mood, which depended on age, gender, bipolar subtype, and a history of rapid cycling.
Conclusions
Our results highlight the importance of monitoring sleep in people with BD. However, researchers and clinicians investigating the association between sleep and mood should consider subgroup differences in this relationship. Advances in digital technology mean that intensive longitudinal data on sleep and mood are becoming increasingly available. Novel methods to analyse these data present an exciting opportunity for furthering our understanding of BD.
Nasal chondromesenchymal hamartoma is a rare pathology that can present with a myriad of symptoms to ENT, maxillofacial and ophthalmology departments. This study reviewed the literature on nasal chondromesenchymal hamartoma as well as adding three new cases to the reported literature.
Method
This study was an up-to-date review of the world literature with the addition of three new cases to provide the most comprehensive review to date.
Results
A total of 56 patients with nasal chondromesenchymal hamartoma were identified, ranging from children to adults. Nasal symptoms and ocular symptoms were most common, and surgical resection was the most frequent treatment modality.
Conclusion
This study advocates for increased awareness of the condition associations for nasal chondromesenchymal hamartoma, multi-specialty treatment and the role for the ENT surgeon in treatment of the condition.
PsychED Up is an extra-curricular course for 3rd year medical students at King’s College London delivered by psychiatry trainees, senior students and actors. It focuses on the hidden medical curriculum, exploration of holistic care and communication skills.
Objectives
Develop a responsive and sustainable template for course evaluation Obtain rich and specific feedback across multiple domains which can be translated into course improvements Work collaboratively with former students Empower current students with the knowledge that their input is valuable
Methods
Embedded evaluation in start of term course development sessions to engage faculty in evaluation processes Faculty survey to determine what student feedback would be most useful Questionnaire finalised Collaborative design and refinement of questions, confirmed sub-sections and scope
Results
Revised questionnaire: - Included rationale at the start - Questions tailored to faculty development needs - Greater quantity of prompted questions - Specific questions for large group presentation, small group teaching, actors’ performances and students’ reflections - Quantitative ratings and open-space questions thoughtfully paired Reduced time between sessions and obtainment of feedback Quality and quantity of feedback: - High response rates: 32/30 (2 duplicates) mid-term, 29/30 end-of-term - High-quality filling of open-space feedback allowed consolidation of themes to improve the course
Conclusions
Co-designed questionnaire brought focus and organisation to questions leading to richer, more personalised responses for faculty More detailed reflections were attributed to better student understanding of the questionnaire rationale, and knowledge that they would aid course improvement Created a robust system for collecting long-term feedback for PsychED Up and will continue making iterative amendments
To determine whether age, gender and marital status are associated with prognosis for adults with depression who sought treatment in primary care.
Methods
Medline, Embase, PsycINFO and Cochrane Central were searched from inception to 1st December 2020 for randomised controlled trials (RCTs) of adults seeking treatment for depression from their general practitioners, that used the Revised Clinical Interview Schedule so that there was uniformity in the measurement of clinical prognostic factors, and that reported on age, gender and marital status. Individual participant data were gathered from all nine eligible RCTs (N = 4864). Two-stage random-effects meta-analyses were conducted to ascertain the independent association between: (i) age, (ii) gender and (iii) marital status, and depressive symptoms at 3–4, 6–8,<Vinod: Please carry out the deletion of serial commas throughout the article> and 9–12 months post-baseline and remission at 3–4 months. Risk of bias was evaluated using QUIPS and quality was assessed using GRADE. PROSPERO registration: CRD42019129512. Pre-registered protocol https://osf.io/e5zup/.
Results
There was no evidence of an association between age and prognosis before or after adjusting for depressive ‘disorder characteristics’ that are associated with prognosis (symptom severity, durations of depression and anxiety, comorbid panic disorderand a history of antidepressant treatment). Difference in mean depressive symptom score at 3–4 months post-baseline per-5-year increase in age = 0(95% CI: −0.02 to 0.02). There was no evidence for a difference in prognoses for men and women at 3–4 months or 9–12 months post-baseline, but men had worse prognoses at 6–8 months (percentage difference in depressive symptoms for men compared to women: 15.08% (95% CI: 4.82 to 26.35)). However, this was largely driven by a single study that contributed data at 6–8 months and not the other time points. Further, there was little evidence for an association after adjusting for depressive ‘disorder characteristics’ and employment status (12.23% (−1.69 to 28.12)). Participants that were either single (percentage difference in depressive symptoms for single participants: 9.25% (95% CI: 2.78 to 16.13) or no longer married (8.02% (95% CI: 1.31 to 15.18)) had worse prognoses than those that were married, even after adjusting for depressive ‘disorder characteristics’ and all available confounders.
Conclusion
Clinicians and researchers will continue to routinely record age and gender, but despite their importance for incidence and prevalence of depression, they appear to offer little information regarding prognosis. Patients that are single or no longer married may be expected to have slightly worse prognoses than those that are married. Ensuring this is recorded routinely alongside depressive ‘disorder characteristics’ in clinic may be important.
This study aimed to develop, validate and compare the performance of models predicting post-treatment outcomes for depressed adults based on pre-treatment data.
Methods
Individual patient data from all six eligible randomised controlled trials were used to develop (k = 3, n = 1722) and test (k = 3, n = 918) nine models. Predictors included depressive and anxiety symptoms, social support, life events and alcohol use. Weighted sum scores were developed using coefficient weights derived from network centrality statistics (models 1–3) and factor loadings from a confirmatory factor analysis (model 4). Unweighted sum score models were tested using elastic net regularised (ENR) and ordinary least squares (OLS) regression (models 5 and 6). Individual items were then included in ENR and OLS (models 7 and 8). All models were compared to one another and to a null model (mean post-baseline Beck Depression Inventory Second Edition (BDI-II) score in the training data: model 9). Primary outcome: BDI-II scores at 3–4 months.
Results
Models 1–7 all outperformed the null model and model 8. Model performance was very similar across models 1–6, meaning that differential weights applied to the baseline sum scores had little impact.
Conclusions
Any of the modelling techniques (models 1–7) could be used to inform prognostic predictions for depressed adults with differences in the proportions of patients reaching remission based on the predicted severity of depressive symptoms post-treatment. However, the majority of variance in prognosis remained unexplained. It may be necessary to include a broader range of biopsychosocial variables to better adjudicate between competing models, and to derive models with greater clinical utility for treatment-seeking adults with depression.
Although there is growing interest in mental health problems in university students there is limited understanding of the scope of need and determinants to inform intervention efforts.
Aims
To longitudinally examine the extent and persistence of mental health symptoms and the importance of psychosocial and lifestyle factors for student mental health and academic outcomes.
Method
Undergraduates at a Canadian university were invited to complete electronic surveys at entry and completion of their first year. The baseline survey measured important distal and proximal risk factors and the follow-up assessed mental health and well-being. Surveys were linked to academic grades. Multivariable models of risk factors and mental health and academic outcomes were fit and adjusted for confounders.
Results
In 1530 students surveyed at entry to university 28% and 33% screened positive for clinically significant depressive and anxiety symptoms respectively, which increased to 36% and 39% at the completion of first year. Over the academic year, 14% of students reported suicidal thoughts and 1.6% suicide attempts. Moreover, there was persistence and overlap in these mental health outcomes. Modifiable psychosocial and lifestyle factors at entry were associated with positive screens for mental health outcomes at completion of first year, while anxiety and depressive symptoms were associated with lower grades and university well-being.
Conclusions
Clinically significant mental health symptoms are common and persistent among first-year university students and have a negative impact on academic performance and well-being. A comprehensive mental health strategy that includes a whole university approach to prevention and targeted early-intervention measures and associated research is justified.
The Coronavirus (Covid-19) pandemic is exerting unprecedented pressure on NHS Health and Social Care provisions, with frontline staff, such as those of critical care units, encountering vast practical and emotional challenges on a daily basis. Although staff are being supported through organisational provisions, facilitated by those in leadership roles, the emergence of mental health difficulties or the exacerbation of existing ones amongst these members of staff is a cause for concern. Acknowledging this, academics and healthcare professionals alike are calling for psychological support for frontline staff, which not only addresses distress during the initial phases of the outbreak but also over the months, if not years, that follow. Fortunately, mental health services and psychology professional bodies across the United Kingdom have issued guidance to meet these needs. An attempt has been made to translate these sets of guidance into clinical provisions via the recently established Homerton Covid Psychological Support (HCPS) pathway delivered by Talk Changes (Hackney & City IAPT). This article describes the phased, stepped-care and evidence-based approach that has been adopted by the service to support local frontline NHS staff. We wish to share our service design and pathway of care with other Improving Access to Psychological Therapies (IAPT) services who may also seek to support hospital frontline staff within their associated NHS Trusts and in doing so, lay the foundations of a coordinated response.
Key learning aims
(1) To understand the ways staff can be psychologically and emotionally impacted by working on the frontline of disease outbreaks.
(2) To understand the ways in which IAPT services have previously supported populations exposed to crises.
(3) To learn ways of delivering psychological support and interventions during a pandemic context based on existing guidance and research.
The application of recovery principles within everyday mental health services is understudied.
Objectives and aims
We studied the implementation of a programme of intensive case management (ICM) emphasizing recovery principles in an Irish community mental health service.
Methods
Eighty service attenders with severe and enduring illness were randomized into groups
(1) receiving a programme of ICM,
(2) receiving treatment as usual (TAU).
Groups were compared before/after the programme for general psychopathology using the Brief psychiatric Rating Scale [BPRS] (clinician rated) and How are You? Scale (self-rated). The Functional Analysis of Care Environments [FACE] scale provided assessment of functional domains.
Results
The overall group [mean age 44.5 ± 13.2 years; 60% male] had mean total Health of the Nation Outcome Scale [HoNOS] scale scores 10.5 ± 4.6 with impaired social functioning especially prominent (mean social subscale score 5.0 ± 2.7). The ICM group were younger (p < 0.01) with higher baseline scores on the HoNOS social subscale and BPRS (p < 0.05). An analysis of covariance, controlling for these baseline differences, indicated greater improvement in BPRS scores (p = 0.001), How are You? scores (p = 0.02) and FACE domains for cognition, symptoms and interpersonal relationships (all p < 0.001) in the ICM group. The ICM group underwent greater changes in structured daily activities that were linked to improved BPRS scores (p = 0.01).
Conclusions
A programme of ICM emphasizing recovery principles allowed significant improvement across psychopathological and functional domains. Improvements were linked to enhanced engagement with structured daily activities. Recovery-oriented practices can be integrated into existing mental health services and provided alongside traditional models of care.
Schizophrenia is a serious mental illness that carries a significant burden for families providing care.
Objectives
The ADHES carers' survey canvassed opinions of families/friends of patients with schizophrenia across Europe.
Aim
To ascertain carer attitudes towards schizophrenia, its treatment and treatment adherence.
Methods
The survey was conducted from January-April 2011 in 16 European countries, comprising 10 questions relating to the respondents' understanding of schizophrenia, attitudes towards schizophrenia treatments, and perception of the family's/friend's role in supporting patients with schizophrenia.
Results
Results were obtained from 138 respondents. 76% of carers recognized the importance of medication to help patients get better, improve their quality of life (77%) and relationships (74%). 67% of carers responded that they believed schizophrenia treatment damages patients' general health. Two-thirds of the carers reported that treatment adherence was a burden for the patient and over a third of carers indicated that it was a daily struggle to get patients to take their medication. 50% of carers considered the benefits offered by long-acting injectable antipsychotics as very/quite important and thus, could provide a valuable tool in improving treatment adherence. 92% of carers agreed on the importance of family support to boost treatment adherence with education/information deemed important for families and patients alike.
Conclusion
Carers recognize the issues they face in caring for patients with schizophrenia and their role in improving partial/non-adherence to medication, especially to avoid suboptimal treatment outcomes. The important role of family carers should be considered by healthcare professionals when treating patients with schizophrenia.
To explore the opinions of the UK consultant body on endoscopic Eustachian tube balloon dilatation in the context of Eustachian tube dysfunction.
Method
A 10-question online survey was distributed to ENT consultants currently practising in the UK (July–September 2018).
Results
A total of 137 ENT consultants responded. Twenty-three per cent reported experience of Eustachian tube balloon dilatation, with a further 10 per cent planning to start performing the procedure. Of those performing the procedure, 16 per cent had more than two years’ experience. Thirty-two per cent were performing zero to five procedures a year. Eustachian tube balloon dilatation was primarily conducted to treat Eustachian tube dysfunction symptoms, as well as retraction pockets, baro-challenge-induced Eustachian tube dysfunction and otitis media with effusion. The most common reason for not undertaking Eustachian tube balloon dilatation was insufficient evidence of efficacy (65 per cent). Seventy-two per cent of consultants thought that creating a national database for audit and monitoring purposes would benefit the specialty.
Conclusion
The majority of UK ENT consultants do not practise Eustachian tube balloon dilatation, citing a lack of high-level evidence to support its use. A national database for auditing and research could facilitate the creation of guidelines.
Background: Identifying depressed patients unlikely to reach remission and those likely to relapse after reaching remission is of great importance, but there are few pre-treatment factors that can help clinicians predict prognosis and together these explain relatively little variance in treatment outcomes. Attentional control has shown promise in studies to date, but has not been investigated prospectively in routine clinical settings with depressed patients. Aims: This study aimed to pilot the use of a brief self-report measure of attentional control in routine care and investigate the associations between attentional control, psychological treatment response and relapse to depression up to 1 year post-treatment. Method: Depressed patients were recruited from two primary care psychological treatment (IAPT) services and completed the Attentional Control Scale (ACS) alongside routine symptom measures at every therapy session. Participants were tracked and followed up for 1 year post-treatment. Results: Baseline ACS scores were associated with remission and residual depressive symptoms post-treatment, and relapse within 12 months of ending treatment, all independent of pre-treatment depressive symptom severity, and the latter also independent of residual symptoms. Conclusion: A self-report measure of attentional control can potentially be used to predict levels of depressive symptoms post-treatment and can contribute to predicting risk of relapse to depression in IAPT services, without affecting rates of therapy completion/drop-out or data completion of standard IAPT measures. However, this pilot study had a small overall sample size and a very small number of observed relapses, so replication in a larger study is needed before firm conclusions can be made.
Potassium-bentonites have been found in the Courceyan Lower Limestone Shales near Burrington Combe and Oakhill, Somerset, consisting of thin, greenish yellow, plastic clays interbedded within a mudrock and limestone sequence. Mineralogically, the clay fraction is composed of virtually monomineralic interstratified illite-smectite containing 7–10% smectite layers. The clay fraction of the surrounding mudrocks, however, consists of an illite-chlorite dominated assemblage. Their mineral composition, trace element content, and the relative abundance of zircon crystals suggest an origin from burial of montmorillonite originally formed from volcanic ash. The presence of anomalously high trace element contents with both euhedral and rounded zircon grains in the Oakhill K-bentonites suggests a secondary or reworked origin for these samples. In contrast, the presence of a non-anomalous trace element content and large (>100 μm) euhedral zircon grains suggests that the Burrington K-bentonite is primary in origin. Modelling of whole-rock rare-earth element (REE) patterns shows that the Oakhill REE pattern can be derived from the Burrington pattern by the addition of small contributions from zircon and monazite, two major heavy minerals present. These K-bentonites probably represent the oldest Carboniferous K-bentonites so far recorded in the British Isles.