Evidence-Based Mental Health articles from February 2001

Evidence-Based Mental Health archives from February 2001

So much research evidence, so little dissemination and uptake: mixing the useful with the pleasing.
February 1, 2001... To the continuing consternation of many health scientists, their best research results, the fruits of much caring toil and labour, often appear to remain unused by health clinicians and policy decision makers. Despite the volumes of research...

Applying the results of trials and systematic reviews to our individual patients.
February 1, 2001... To translate evidence into clinical practice, clinicians need to judge how to apply the evidence to individual patients. For a complete discussion on how to assess the validity and applicability of therapeutic studies, we refer you to the Users...

Divalproex did not differ from placebo or lithium in preventing recurrence of new mood episodes in bipolar I disorder, remission phase.
February 1, 2001... QUESTION: In patients with bipolar I disorder in remission, how does divalproex compare with placebo and lithium in preventing recurrence of new mood episodes? Design 1 year randomised (allocation concealed [*]} [+], blinded...

Review: family intervention added to standard treatment for schizophrenia reduces relapse.
February 1, 2001... QUESTIONS: In patients with schizophrenia, does family intervention increase the efficacy of standard treatment, and what are the characteristics of successful intervention? Data sources Studies were identified by searching Medline...

Review: patient education is effective for improving patient knowledge of schizophreia.
February 1, 2001... QUESTION: In patients with schizophrenia, does patient education improve knowledge, compliance, relapse, symptoms, social function, insight, and satisfaction? Data sources Studies were identified by searching Medline (1966-97),...

Review: school based child sexual abuse prevention programmes are effective for improving prevention skills and knowledge.
February 1, 2001... QUESTION: Are school based programmes effective for increasing children's skills and knowledge in preventing sexual abuse? Data sources Studies were identified by searching PsycINFO, Medline, ERIC, HealthSTAR, and Dissertation...

Review: home visiting programmes that include [greater than or equal to] 1 postnatal home visit are associated with improved quality of home environment and parenting.
February 1, 2001... QUESTION: Do home visiting programmes improve quality of home environment and parenting? Data sources Studies were identified by searching Medline (1966 to July 1996), GINAI-IL (1982 to July 1996), EMBASE! Excerpta Medica (1980 to...

A comprehensive coping strategy programme reduced nausea and fatigue after autologous bone marrow transplantation for breast cancer.(treatment for the psychosocial effects of cancer)
February 1, 2001... QUESTION: In women having autologous bone marrow transplantation (ABMT) for breast cancer, does a comprehensive coping strategy programme (CCSP) reduce pain, fatigue, psychological distress, and nausea? Design Randomised (unclear...

A psychosocial group intervention reduced psychological distress and enhanced coping in primary breast cancer.
February 1, 2001... QUESTION: In women with primary breast carcinoma and a high risk of recurrence, does a psychosocial group intervention reduce psychological distress and enhance coping? Design Randomised {allocation concealed [*]} [+], unblinded [*],...

Review: advice from doctors and nurses, behavioural interventions, nicotine replacement treatment, and several pharmacological treatments increase smoking cessation rates.
February 1, 2001... QUESTION: Are smoking cessation interventions effective? Data sources Reviews were identified by searching the Cochrane Library. Study selection Reviews were selected if they included randomised controlled trials of...

Lithium reduced aggression and was safe in aggressive children and adolescents with conduct disorder admitted to hospital.
February 1, 2001... QUESTION: In children and adolescents in hospital with conduct disorder and frequent aggression, how effective and safe is lithium in reducing aggression? Design Randomised (unclear allocation concealment*), blinded (patients and...

Disulfiram was effective in patients with cocaine abuse who were also methadone treated opioid addicts.
February 1, 2001... QUESTION: What is the effectiveness of disulfiram for cocaine dependence in patients who are also opioid addicts treated with methadone? Design Randomised (allocation concealed} [*][+], blinded (investigator and patient) [+], placebo...

In hospital cognitive rehabilitation was as effective as home rehabilitation in moderate to severe traumatic brain injury.
February 1, 2001... QUESTION: In recovering patients with moderate to severe traumatic brain injury, is inpatient cognitive rehabilitation more effective than home rehabilitation? Design Randomised (allocation concealed [*]), unblinded [*], controlled...

Behavioural family therapy reduced disruptive behaviour in children at risk for developing conduct problems.
February 1, 2001... QUESTION: For families with 3 year old children at high risk for developing conduct problems, does a behavioural family intervention (BFI) (Triple-P Positive Parenting Program) in standard, enhanced, or self directed formats reduce disruptive...

Review: nicotine replacement treatments achieve smoking abstinence at 6--12 months.
February 1, 2001... QUESTION: In people trying to stop smoking, how effective are different nicotine replacement treatments (NRTs) in achieving long term ([greater than]6 mo) smoking cessation? Data sources Studies were identified by searching the...

Cognitive behavioural therapy reduced distress and doctor visits in patients with medically unexplained symptoms.
February 1, 2001... QUESTION: In patients with medically unexplained symptoms and repeated clinic visits, is cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) more effective than standard care in reducing symptoms, visits, and distress? Design 3 month randomised...

Review: newer drugs have not yet been shown to be better than clozapine for schizophrenia.
February 1, 2001... QUESTION: In patients with schizophrenia, how do the efficacy and safety of newer antipsychotic drugs compare with that of clozapine? Data sources Studies were identified by searching Biological Abstracts/BIOSIS (to 1999), the Cochrane...

Review: donepezil, metrifonate, rivastigmine, and Ginkgo biloba are more effective than placebo in Alzheimer's disease.
February 1, 2001... Data sources QUESTION: Which drug treatments are most effective for adults with Alzheimer's disease (AD)? Studies were identified by searching Medline, CINAHL, Applied Science and Technology, Core Biomedical Collection, Core Biomedical...

Review: strong evidence recommends genetic and metabolic testing in subgroups of children with autism.
February 1, 2001... QUESTION: What evidence supports practice parameters for the surveillance, screening, and diagnosis of children with autism? Data sources A panel of experts in autism was convened. Studies in all languages were identified by searching...

The Quick PsychoDiagnostics Panel was accurate for identifying psychiatric disorders in primary care.
February 1, 2001... QUESTION: Is the Quick PsychoDiagnostics (QPD) Panel an accurate assessment tool for identifying psychiatric disorders in primary care? Design A blinded comparison of the QPD Panel with Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-IV (SCID)...

Review: the location of stroke is not associated with the risk of depression.
February 1, 2001... QUESTIONS: Do patients with stroke have a higher risk of depression if they have left sided lesions rather than right sided lesions? Are left anterior lesions associated with a higher risk of depression than lesions in other sites of the brain?...

Diagnostic stability was higher in schizophrenia than other psychoses.
February 1, 2001... QUESTION: In patients with a first admission diagnosis of psychosis, how stable is the diagnosis? Design An inception cohort of patients with follow up of 6 and 24 months (Suffolk County Mental Health Project). Setting 12...

Children who participated in school extracurricular activities were less likely to drop out or to have been arrested.
February 1, 2001... QUESTION: Does child and adolescent participation in school extracurricular activities moderate the effect of risk factor patterns of antisocial behaviour from childhood to young adulthood? Design Cohort study with follow up to 24...

Genetic and specific environmental risk factors affected comorbidity of major depression and alcoholism.
February 1, 2001... QUESTION: How much influence do genetic and environmental risk factors have on comorbidity of major depression and alcohol abuse or dependence? Design A population based, cohort study using data from a twin registry. Setting ...

Psychiatric nurses expressed conflicting feelings in the decision to use physical restraints.
February 1, 2001... QUESTION: What are psychiatric nurses' thoughts and feelings in patient restraint situations and what issues do they face in their decision to restrain? Design Ethnographic qualitative study. Setting 30 bed, unlocked...

Inpatients with personality disorders who stopped treatment had problems with the institutional culture and relationships.
February 1, 2001... QUESTION: In patients with personality disorder who stop treatment early after admission to a psychotherapy hospital, what problem areas do they identify in their hospital experience? Design Semistructured, indepth interviews...

GLOSSARY.(definitions of terms used in medical research/clinical trials)(Glossary)
February 1, 2001... Terms used in therapeutics (see glossary in Evidence-Based Mental Health 1998 May for more detail on numbers included in the tables) Allocation concealed: deemed to have taken adequate measures to conceal allocation to study group...