Evidence-Based Mental Health articles from February 1 2004

Evidence-Based Mental Health archives from February 1 2004

Schizophrenia.(EBMH Notebook)
February 1, 2004... The EBMH Notebook summarises key messages about schizophrenia, sourced from: Clin Evid Concise 2003;10:235-7. For this review, Clinical Evidence Concise searched and appraised material published until December 2002. DEFINITION ...

Other articles noted.
February 1, 2004... The journals that are reviewed and the criteria for selecting articles from these journals for inclusion in Evidence-Based Mental Health are set out in the purpose and procedure in each issue. All articles that meet our criteria in the reviewed...

58% of people recovering from a major depressive episode are unlikely to relapse after 5 years.(Prognosis)
February 1, 2004... Q What is the time to recurrence after recovery from an initial episode of major depressive disorder? METHODS * Design: Prospective multicentre cohort study. * Setting: 23 centres across Japan; enrolment December 1992 to December...

Modern treatments for severe depression still have poor long term outcome.(Prognosis)
February 1, 2004... Q Has the long term prognosis of people with severe depression changed as a result of the increased use of modern treatments such as antidepressants and psychological therapy? METHODS * Design: Long term follow up of observational...

The minimum data set depression rating scale (MDSDRS) lacks reliability for identifying depression among older adults living in nursing homes.(Diagnosis)
February 1, 2004... Q Does the MDSDRS reliably detect depression in older adults living in nursing homes? METHODS * Design: Prospective cohort study. * Setting: Three nursing homes in lowa, USA; timeframe not specified. * Patients: 145 nursing...

Inclusion of informant ratings of cognitive difficulties improves the accuracy of the MMSE in predicting Alzheimer's disease.(Diagnosis)
February 1, 2004... Q Is the accuracy of predicting Alzheimer's disease improved by incorporating patient and informant ratings of cognitive difficulties into the Mini-Mental State Examination? METHODS * Design: Prospective longitudinal study. Assessors...

The self rating inventory for post-traumatic stress disorder may aid diagnosis among older people in the community.(Diagnosis)
February 1, 2004... Q Does the self rating inventory for post-traumatic stress disorder effectively diagnose post-traumatic stress disorder in older adults living in the community? METHODS * Design: Two stage longitudinal study. * Setting: 11...

Sertraline improves symptoms in children and adolescents with major depressive disorder.(Therapeutics)
February 1, 2004... Q What are the effects of sertraline in children and adolescents with major depressive disorder (MDD)? METHODS * Design: Two randomised controlled trials. * Allocation: Concealed. * Blinding: Double blinded (clinicians,...

Review: individual psychotherapy may be an effective treatment for people with bulimia nervosa.(Therapeutics)
February 1, 2004... Q What are the effects of psychotherapy in people with bulimia nervosa? METHODS * Design: Systematic review with meta-analysis. * Data sources: PsycINFO and MEDLINE (1980-2000); hand searches of 19 key journals and reference lists...

Flexible oral olanzapine dosing in acutely agitated people is immediately effective in reducing symptoms.(Therapeutics)
February 1, 2004... Q What is the efficacy and safety of rapid initial dose escalation of oral olanzapine compared with usual clinical practice in people with acute agitation? METHODS * Design: Multicentre randomised controlled trial. * Allocation:...

Aripiprazole is effective against the symptoms of schizophrenia and schizoaffective disorder.(Therapeutics)
February 1, 2004... Q Is aripiprazole effective in people with schizophrenia or schizoaffective disorder? METHODS * Design: Randomised controlled trial. * Allocation: Unclear. * Blinding: Double blind (participants and assessors). * Follow...

Review: new generation antipsychotic drugs may reduce relapse rates more effectively than conventional antipsychotic drugs in people with schizophrenia.(Therapeutics)
February 1, 2004... Q What is the potential of new generation antipsychotic drugs to improve adherence and decrease relapse rates in people with schizophrenia? METHODS * Design: Systematic review with meta-analysis. * Data sources: Medline...

Manual assisted cognitive behaviour therapy is as effective as treatment as usual for deliberate self harm, but is more cost effective.(Therapeutics)
February 1, 2004... Q Is manual assisted cognitive behaviour therapy more effective and more cost effective than treatment as usual in people with recurrent episodes of deliberate self harm? METHODS * Design: Randomised controlled trial. *...

Review: psychodynamic therapy and cognitive behavioural therapy are effective in the treatment of personality disorders.(Therapeutics)
February 1, 2004... Q Are psychodynamic therapy and cognitive behaviour therapy effective treatments for people with personality disorders? METHODS * Design: Systematic review with meta-analysis. * Data sources: MEDLINE, PsycINFO, and Current Contents...

High dose pregabalin is effective for the treatment of generalised anxiety disorder.(Therapeutics)
February 1, 2004... Q What is the efficacy and safety of pregabalin in people with generalised anxiety disorder? METHODS * Design: Randomised controlled trial. * Allocation: Unclear. * Blinding: Double blind (clinicians, participants). *...

Combined imaginal exposure and cognitive restructuring therapy is more effective than supportive counselling for treating posttraumatic stress disorder.(Therapeutics)
February 1, 2004... Q For people with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), does cognitive restructuring with prolonged imaginal exposure lead to greater symptom relief than imaginal exposure alone? METHODS * Design: Randomised controlled trial. *...

Cognitive stimulation therapy improves cognition and quality of life in older people with dementia.(Therapeutics)
February 1, 2004... Q Does cognitive stimulation therapy improve cognition and quality of life in older people with dementia? METHODS * Design: Randomised controlled trial. * Allocation: Unconcealed. * Blinding: Single (outcome assessors...

Donepezil slows decline in daily life activities in people with moderate to severe Alzheimer's disease and alleviates caregiver burden.(Therapeutics)
February 1, 2004... Q What are the effects of donepezil on activities of daily living, and social functioning in people with moderate to severe Alzheimer's disease, and what are the effects on caregiver burden? METHODS * Design: Randomised controlled...

Outreach supported antidepressant treatment and cognitive behavioural therapy are effective for depression in low income minority women.(Therapeutics)
February 1, 2004... Q What is the effect of guideline concordant care (ie antidepressant medication or cognitive behavioural therapy) compared with community care for depression in low income minority women? METHODS * Design: Randomised controlled trial....

Treating low perceived social support and depression after myocardial infarction does not increase event-free survival.(Therapeutics)
February 1, 2004... Q Does treating depression and low perceived social support (LPSS) with cognitive behaviour therapy and, where indicated, a selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor (SSRI) within 28 days of myocardial infarction (MI) reduce risk of subsequent MI...

Supervised co-prescription of heroin to treatment-resistant heroin addicts is more effective than treatment with methadone alone.(Therapeutics)
February 1, 2004... Q Is supervised prescription of heroin successful in treating people addicted to heroin, who have not benefited from methadone maintenance treatment? METHODS * Design: Two randomised controlled trials. * Allocation: Open. *...

Adolescent major depressive disorder may predict poor psychosocial functioning in young adulthood.(Aetiology)
February 1, 2004... Q Is adolescent major depressive disorder (MDD) associated with difficulties in young adult psychosocial functioning? METHODS * Design: Prospective cohort study. * Follow up period: One year, and when participants were aged 24. ...

Borderline personality disorder, drug use disorder, and worsening depression or substance abuse are significant predictors of suicide attempts in people with Axis I and II disorders.(Aetiology)
February 1, 2004... Q What are the diagnostic predictors of suicide attempts in people with Axis I and Axis II disorders? METHODS * Design: Prospective longitudinal study. * Follow up period: Two years. Participants interviewed at 6 months, 1 year,...

Mini-clusters of potentially prodromal symptoms may identify psychiatrically well Amish children at higher risk of developing bipolar I disorder.(Aetiology)
February 1, 2004... Q Do frequencies of potential early prodromal clinical features for bipolar I (BPI) disorder in psychiatrically well Amish children correlate with family history, and therefore inferred risk, of BPI? METHODS * Design: Prospective...

Review: at least one third of people report persistent memory loss after electroconvulsive therapy.(Qualitative)
February 1, 2004... Q What are patients' views on the treatment benefits of electroconvulsive therapy and to what extent is persistent loss of memory an adverse effect of this treatment? METHODS * Design: Systematic review. * Data sources: MEDLINE,...

Review: exploration of psychological and physical health differences between caregivers and non-caregivers.(Qualitative)
February 1, 2004... Q What are the differences between caregivers and non-caregivers in perceived stress, depression, subjective well being, physical health and self efficacy? METHODS * Design: Systematic review with meta-analysis. * Data sources:...

Terms used in therapeutics (see glossary in Evidence-Based Mental Health 1998 may for more detail on numbers included in the tables).(Glossary)
February 1, 2004... Allocation concealed: deemed to have taken adequate measures to conceal allocation to study group assignments from those responsible for assessing patients for entry in the trial. Allocation not concealed: deemed to have not taken adequate...

Definitions relating to data presentation in therapeutics.(Glossary)
February 1, 2004... When the experimental treatment increases the probability of a good event RBI (relative benefit increase): the increase in the rates of good events, comparing experimental (EER) and control (CER) patients in a trial, also calculated as...

Terms used in systematic reviews (see glossary in Evidence-Based Mental Health 1998 Nov for more detail).(Glossary)
February 1, 2004... Odds of an event: the probability, or event rate, divided by (1 - event rate). Odds ratio (OR): a measure of the relative benefit of the experimental treatment that can be obtained by dividing the experimental odds by the control odds. ...

Terms used in diagnosis (see glossary in Evidence-Based Mental Health 1998 Feb for more detail).(Glossary)
February 1, 2004... The following terms are used in comparing a new test against a diagnostic (gold) standard Sensitivity: the proportion of people who have the disorder (according to the diagnostic [gold] standard) who are detected by the test. ...