Consensus statements on the clinical usage and characteristics of aripiprazole for Hong Kong.

Aripiprazole, a dopamine partial agonist, is a second-generation anti-psychotic that is widely used for the treatment of schizophrenia and other psychotic disorders. A group of psychiatric experts in Hong Kong developed a set of consensus statements, aiming to facilitate the understanding of clinical properties and usages of aripiprazole among local physicians. Of note, because aripiprazole long-acting injectable has been available locally not long before the establishment of the consensus panel, which limited the discussion on its use in the local context, the consensus statements were focused primarily on oral aripiprazole. To draft the consensus statements, the panellists discussed the published evidence and their clinical experience regarding aripiprazole in a series of meetings based on several areas. At the final meeting, each drafted statement was voted on anonymously by all panellists based on its practicability of recommendation in Hong Kong. A set of consensus statements on the characteristics and clinical use of aripiprazole was established and accepted by the panel. These statements serve to provide a practical reference for physicians in Hong Kong, and possibly other parts of the Asia-Pacific region, on the use of aripiprazole in people with schizophrenia spectrum disorders and other psychotic problems.

Development and validation of perceived rehabilitation require questionnaires for caregivers of people with schizophrenia.

OBJECTIVE: This study aimed at developing and validating the Perceived Rehabilitation Needs Questionnaires for Caregivers (PRNQ-Cs) of people with schizophrenia. METHODS: The items of PRNQ-C were generated based on focus group discussion and literature review. A validation study was conducted to examine its psychometric properties among 98 caregivers who were recruited via convenience sampling. RESULTS: Through the use of direct oblique rotation, exploratory factor analysis yielded an eight-factor solution which accounted for 64.39% of the total variance. Its internal consistency and test-retest reliability were satisfactory. CONCLUSION: Through cross-cultural validation, the PRNQ-C is applicable in other Chinese communities with huge population of schizophrenia.

Educating Medical Students in Counselling Older Adults about Exercise: The Impact of a Physical Activity Module.

BACKGROUND: Exercise courses during medical school contribute to medical students' confidence in promoting physical activity to their patients. However, there is still a lack of uniform physical activity education across medical school curricula to equip medical students with the necessary skills and knowledge to counsel their patients about exercise. OBJECTIVE: To determine the effects of a 1.5-hour physical activity module including a one-hour exercise tutorial combined with a 30-minute practical counselling session on senior medical students' perceptions of the importance of exercise and their perceived competence in advising older people about exercise. DESIGN: Pre-post survey. SETTING: University campus. PARTICIPANTS: 161 senior medical students taking part in the Queen Elizabeth Hospital Geriatric Medicine course in 2015 (control group) and 2016 (intervention group). MEASUREMENT: The modified Exercise and Physical Activity Competence Questionnaire (EPACQ) was administered before and after a 4.5-week Geriatric Medicine Course. Scores ranged from 1 (not important or competent) to 6 (very important or competent). The independent T-Test and repeated-measures ANOVA was used to determine differences between intervention and control group. RESULTS: Medical students perceived exercise-related skills to be highly important (score ≥4) in both the intervention (4.85 ± 0.37) and control group (4.78 ± 0.67), pre-course. The overall perceived importance could not be significantly increased by the physical activity module (P=0.082). The physical activity module, however, improved medical students' perceived competence in six out of ten exercise-related skills, and increased their overall perceived competence in counselling older people about exercise (P<0.001). CONCLUSION: A 1.5-hour physical activity module improves senior medical students' perceived competence in counselling older people about exercise. This research proves that little teaching space is needed to impact positively on medical students' exercise counselling abilities.

Effects of integrated supported employment plus cognitive remediation training for people with schizophrenia and schizoaffective disorders.

OBJECTIVES: The present study aims to investigate the synergistic effects of cognitive remediation training (CRT) on Integrated Supported Employment (ISE). ISE blends individual placement support service with work-related social skills training for Chinese people suffering from schizophrenia or schizoaffective disorder. METHOD: Ninety participants with schizophrenia or schizoaffective disorders were recruited from two psychiatric outpatient services in Hong Kong. They were randomly assigned into the ISE+CRT (n=45) and ISE (n=45) conditions. Blinded assessments on vocational, clinical, psychological, and neurocognitive outcomes were conducted by independent assessors. The two groups were followed up at 7 and 11months. RESULTS: Both groups yielded similar improvements across several outcome domains assessed immediately after the interventions and at 7 and 11month follow-ups, but no significant group differences were found. Significant positive trends over time in vocational, clinical and cognitive outcomes consistently favored the ISE+CRT condition. CONCLUSION: While both the ISE+CRT and ISE groups demonstrated improvement in vocational, clinical, psychological, and neurocognitive outcomes, there was no evidence to show that cognitive remediation facilitated further improvement in these domains beyond gains associated with ISE alone. Further investigation is needed to fully exploit the synergistic potential of ISE combined with CRT, and to better understand which individuals experience a maximal benefit from the specific rehabilitation program components.