Effectiveness of a mindfulness-based intervention for persons with early psychosis: A multi-site randomized controlled trial.

BACKGROUND: The Mindfulness Ambassador Program (MAP) is a group-based, facilitated mindfulness-based intervention (MBI). We sought to determine the effectiveness of MAP on reducing negative psychotic symptoms and enhancing mindfulness skills among persons experiencing early psychosis. METHODS: We conducted a pragmatic randomized controlled trial (RCT) at three early psychosis intervention (EPI) programs in Ontario, Canada. Participants (N = 59) were randomly assigned to receive MAP (n = 29) for 1-hour weekly sessions over 3 months, or to treatment as usual (TAU, n = 30). Assessments were conducted at baseline, 3 months, and 6 months using the Self-Evaluation of Negative Symptoms (SNS) and Kentucky Inventory of Mindfulness Skills (KIMS). Linear mixed methods were used to assess the joint effects of group and time. RESULTS: At 3 months, participants who received MAP (n = 17) demonstrated greater reductions on the SNS relative to TAU (n = 15), which were clinically and statistically significant (-4.1; 95%CI -7.5, -0.7; p = 0.019). At 6 months, the difference between MAP (n = 10) and TAU (n = 13) was no longer statistically significant (-1.2; 95%CI -5.2,2.7; p = 0.54). On the KIMS, no significant effects were found at 3 months (+0.3; 95%CI -2.0,2.5; p = 0.82) or 6 months (+0.4; 95%CI -2.2,2.9; p = 0.79). CONCLUSIONS: We conducted one of the first multi-site RCTs of a MBI for early psychosis. Our findings indicated that MAP was more effective in reducing negative symptoms compared to TAU in the short term. Earlier reductions in negative psychotic symptoms may help facilitate recovery in the long term.

Self-Injurious Behavior in a Patient With Dementia: A Case Report and Literature Review.

Self-injurious behavior (SIB) has frequently been associated with psychiatric illness and neurological lesions as means of reducing tension or diverting from pain. However, these explanations did not capture the complexity of SIB in the case of Mr. X, a 62-year-old patient who ingested his fingers in his sleep where cognitive testing was valuable in informing diagnosis. Mr. X's SIB was severe enough that he had chewed beyond the middle phalanx for most of his fingers. Clinical symptoms included daytime sleepiness, hypnogogic hallucinations, and bradykinesia. His cognitive profile revealed declines in his intellectual functioning as well as visuospatial and executive deficits in the context of preserved attention, language, and memory. His cognitive and clinical presentation suggested that Mr. X had a neurodegenerative disorder, which may have contributed to his SIB. We believed that the most probable diagnosis may have been rapid eye movement behavioral sleep disorder in the context of Lewy bodies dementia.

Comparability of the WCST and WCST-64 in the assessment of first-episode psychosis.

The Wisconsin Card Sorting Test (WCST) was designed as a measure of executive functioning and is commonly used in the assessment of psychiatric disorders. The original WCST, consisting of 128 cards, has been criticized as being too lengthy for patients experiencing significant distress. Consequently, a shortened version consisting of a single 64-card deck (WCST-64) was created. The purpose of this study was to examine the comparability of the WCST and WCST-64 in 99 patients with first-episode psychosis. Findings showed the WCST-64 yielded a mean T score for perseverative responses (PR) that was 4.08 points lower than the corresponding variable from the WCST, and the correlation between the variables was r = .65. The mean discrepancy was only 2.34 for nonperseverative error (NPE) T scores and the correlation was also stronger, r = .82. Nearly half the sample (44%) had a T score discrepancy between the respective PR indexes that was greater than 1 SD, whereas this discrepancy was observed in only 4% of the sample for NPE. Based on a cut point of < 40T to define impaired versus normal performance for PR, 80% of the sample received the same classification. These findings suggest that NPE scores may be comparable across both tests. Conversely, whereas the PR score from the WCST-64 and WCST can be used as a gross measure of impairment, this score should not be used interchangeably to characterize the severity of perseverative tendencies in first-episode patients on a case-by-case basis. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2019 APA, all rights reserved).

Comorbidity and insurance as predictors of disability after traumatic brain injury.

OBJECTIVE: To examine the unique contribution of self-reported medical comorbidity and insurance type on disability after traumatic brain injury (TBI). DESIGN: Inception cohort design at 1-year follow up. SETTING: A university affiliated rehabilitation hospital. PARTICIPANTS: Adults with mild-complicated to severe TBI (N=70). INTERVENTION: Not applicable. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Self-reported medical comorbidities were measured using the Modified Cumulative Illness Rating Scale, while insurance type was classified as commercial or government-funded; disability was measured using the Disability Rating Scale. RESULTS: Two models were run using multiple linear regression, and the best-fitting model was selected on the basis of Bayesian information criterion. The full model, which included self-reported medical comorbidity and insurance type, was significantly better fitting than the reduced model. Participants with a longer duration of posttraumatic amnesia, more self-reported medical comorbidities, and government insurance were more likely to have higher levels of disability. Meanwhile, individual organ systems were not predictive of disability. CONCLUSIONS: The cumulative effect of self-reported medical comorbidities and type of insurance coverage predict disability above and beyond well-known prognostic variables. Early assessment of medical complications and improving services provided by government-funded insurance may enhance quality of life and reduce long-term health care costs.

Rasch analysis of the postconcussive symptom questionnaire: measuring the core construct of brain injury symptomatology.

The Postconcussive Symptom Questionnaire (PCSQ; Lees-Haley, 1992 ) is purported to measure four constructs. These include psychological, cognitive, somatic, and infrequency (i.e., items intended to reflect negative impression management) symptoms. The utility and validity of Postconcussive Syndrome (PCS) as a diagnostic condition continues to be debated. To this end, examining the instruments used to measure postconcussive symptoms can increase our understanding with respect to this issue. The aim of this study was to derive a revised PCSQ to target the core construct of subjective symptoms reported by persons with traumatic brain injury (TBI). A total of 133 people with mild to severe TBI completed the 45-item PCSQ. Items were scored dichotomously, as symptom present or absent. Rasch analysis, based on the mathematical model formulated by Rasch ( 1960 ), was used to derive the revised PCSQ. Misfitting and redundant items were removed and a second model containing 19 items was fitted. The revised PCSQ-19 had superior psychometric qualities; reliability was 0.81. The PCSQ-19 provides a more targeted, unidimensional assessment of subjective symptoms following brain injury. The findings also revealed information related to symptom hierarchy which can further our understanding of PCS.