Clinical characteristics of patients assessed within an Improving Access to Psychological Therapies (IAPT) service: results from a naturalistic cohort study (Predicting Outcome Following Psychological Therapy; PROMPT).

BACKGROUND: A substantial number of patients do not benefit from first line psychological therapies for the treatment of depression and anxiety. Currently, there are no clear predictors of treatment outcomes for these patients. The PROMPT project aims to establish an infrastructure platform for the identification of factors that predict outcomes following psychological treatment for depression and anxiety. Here we report on the first year of recruitment and describe the characteristics of our sample to date. METHODS: One hundred and forty-seven patients awaiting treatment within an Improving Access to Psychological Therapies (IAPT) service were recruited between February 2014 and February 2015 (representing 48 % of those eligible). Baseline assessments were conducted to collect information on a variety of clinical, psychological and social variables including a diagnostic interview using the Mini International Neuropsychiatric Interview (MINI). RESULTS: Our initial findings showed that over a third of our sample were not presenting to IAPT services for the first time, and 63 % had been allocated to receive higher intensity IAPT treatments. Approximately half (46 %) were taking prescribed psychotropic medication (most frequently antidepressants). Co-morbidity was common: 72 % of the sample met criteria for 2 or more current MINI diagnoses. Our initial data also indicated that 16 % met criteria for borderline personality disorder and 69 % were at high risk of personality disorder. Sixty-one percent scored above the screening threshold for bipolarity. Over half of participants (55 %) reported experiencing at least one stressful life event in the previous 12 months, whilst 67 % reported experiencing at least one form of childhood trauma. CONCLUSIONS: Our results to date highlight the complex nature of patients seen within an urban IAPT service, with high rates of psychiatric comorbidity, personality disorder, bipolarity and childhood trauma. Whilst there are significant challenges associated with researching IAPT populations, we have also confirmed the feasibility of undertaking such research.

Quality standards for child and adolescent mental health in primary care.

BACKGROUND: Child and adolescent mental health problems are common in primary healthcare settings. However, few parents of children with mental health problems express concerns about these problems during consultations. Based on parental views, we aimed to create quality of care measures for child and adolescent mental health in primary care and develop consensus about the importance of these quality standards within primary care. METHODS: Quality Standards were developed using an iterative approach involving four phases: 1) 34 parents with concerns about their child's emotional health or behaviour were recruited from a range of community settings including primary care practices to participate in focus group discussions, followed by validation groups or interviews. 2) Preliminary Quality Standards were generated that fully represented the parents' experiences and were refined following feedback from an expert parent nominal group. 3) 55 experts, including parents and representatives from voluntary organisations, across five panels participated in a modified two-stage Delphi study to develop consensus on the importance of the Quality Standards. The panels comprised general practitioners, other community-based professionals, child and adolescent psychiatrists, other child and adolescent mental health professionals and public health and policy specialists. 4) The final set of Quality Standards was piloted with 52 parents in primary care. RESULTS: In the Delphi process, all five panels agreed that 10 of 31 Quality Standards were important. Although four panels rated 25-27 statements as important, the general practitioner panel rated 12 as important. The final 10 Quality Standards reflected healthcare domains involving access, confidentiality for young people, practitioner knowledge, communication, continuity of care, and referral to other services. Parents in primary care agreed that all 10 statements were important. CONCLUSIONS: It is feasible to develop a set of Quality Standards to assess mental healthcare provision for children and adolescents seen within primary healthcare services. Primary care practitioners should be aware of parental perspectives about quality of care as these may influence help-seeking behaviours.

The relationship between dispositional mindfulness and conditional goal setting in depressed patients.

OBJECTIVES: This study explored the association between conditional goal setting (CGS; the tendency to view the achievement of high order goals for the self as conditional upon the achievement of lower order goals) and dispositional mindfulness. DESIGN/METHODS: CGS and dispositional mindfulness were assessed in 31 depressed patients in a cross-sectional design. RESULTS: A significant association was identified between increased dispositional mindfulness and reduced CGS, which remained after controlling for severity of depressed mood. CONCLUSIONS: The results suggest that treatment interventions that increase levels of mindful awareness may have the capacity to reduce CGS in depressed patients.

A comparison of mental state examination documentation by junior clinicians in electronic health records before and after the introduction of a semi-structured assessment template (OPCRIT+).

OBJECTIVES: The mental state examination (MSE) provides crucial information for healthcare professionals in the assessment and treatment of psychiatric patients as well as potentially providing valuable data for mental health researchers accessing electronic health records (EHRs). We wished to establish if improvements could be achieved in the documenting of MSEs by junior doctors within a large United Kingdom mental health trust following the introduction of an EHR based semi-structured MSE assessment template (OPCRIT+). METHODS: First, three consultant psychiatrists using a modified version of the Physician Documentation Quality Instrument-9 (PDQI-9) blindly rated fifty MSEs written using OPCRIT+ and fifty normal MSEs written with no template. Second, we conducted an audit to compare the frequency with which individual components of the MSE were documented in the normal MSEs compared with the OPCRIT+MSEs. RESULTS: PDQI-9 ratings indicated that the OPCRIT+MSEs were more 'Thorough', 'Organized', 'Useful' and 'Comprehensible' as well as being of an overall higher quality than the normal MSEs. The audit identified that the normal MSEs contained fewer mentions of the individual components of 'Thought content', 'Anxiety' and 'Cognition & Insight'. CONCLUSIONS: These results indicate that a semi-structured assessment template significantly improves the quality of MSE recording by junior doctors within EHRs. Future work should focus on whether such improvements translate into better patient outcomes and have the ability to improve the quality of information available on EHRs to researchers.

Harnessing clinical psychiatric data with an electronic assessment tool (OPCRIT+): the utility of symptom dimensions.

Progress in personalised psychiatry is dependent on researchers having access to systematic and accurately acquired symptom data across clinical diagnoses. We have developed a structured psychiatric assessment tool, OPCRIT+, that is being introduced into the electronic medical records system of the South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust which can help to achieve this. In this report we examine the utility of the symptom data being collected with the tool. Cross-sectional mental state data from a mixed-diagnostic cohort of 876 inpatients was subjected to a principal components analysis (PCA). Six components, explaining 46% of the variance in recorded symptoms, were extracted. The components represented dimensions of mania, depression, positive symptoms, anxiety, negative symptoms and disorganization. As indicated by component scores, different clinical diagnoses demonstrated distinct symptom profiles characterized by wide-ranging levels of severity. When comparing the predictive value of symptoms against diagnosis for a variety of clinical outcome measures (e.g. 'Overactive, aggressive behaviour'), symptoms proved superior in five instances (R(2) range: 0.06-0.28) whereas diagnosis was best just once (R(2):0.25). This report demonstrates that symptom data being routinely gathered in an NHS trust, when documented on the appropriate tool, have considerable potential for onward use in a variety of clinical and research applications via representation as dimensions of psychopathology.

Effects of Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy on Specificity of Life Goals.

This study explored the immediate effects of a course of Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy (MBCT) for chronically depressed participants with a history of suicidality on the specificity of important goals for the future. Participants were randomly allocated to immediate treatment with MBCT or to a waitlist condition and life goals were assessed both before and after the treatment or waiting period. Results showed that participants receiving MBCT reported significantly more specific goals post-treatment whereas those allocated to the waitlist condition showed no significant change. Similarly, participants allocated to MBCT regarded themselves as significantly more likely to achieve their important goals post-treatment, whilst again there was no significant change in the waitlist group. Increases in goal specificity were associated with parallel increases in autobiographical memory specificity whereas increases in goal likelihood were associated with reductions in depressed mood. These results suggest that MBCT may enable participants to clarify their important goals and in doing so increase their confidence in their capacity to move in valued life directions.

Mindfulness-based cognitive therapy as a treatment for chronic depression: A preliminary study.

This pilot study investigated the effectiveness of Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy (MBCT), a treatment combining mindfulness meditation and interventions taken from cognitive therapy, in patients suffering from chronic-recurrent depression. Currently symptomatic patients with at least three previous episodes of depression and a history of suicidal ideation were randomly allocated to receive either MBCT delivered in addition to treatment-as-usual (TAU; N=14 completers) or TAU alone (N=14 completers). Depressive symptoms and diagnostic status were assessed before and after treatment phase. Self-reported symptoms of depression decreased from severe to mild levels in the MBCT group while there was no significant change in the TAU group. Similarly, numbers of patients meeting full criteria for depression decreased significantly more in the MBCT group than in the TAU group. Results are consistent with previous uncontrolled studies. Although based on a small sample and, therefore, limited in their generalizability, they provide further preliminary evidence that MBCT can be used to successfully reduce current symptoms in patients suffering from a protracted course of the disorder.