It Takes Time: Vigilance and Sustained Attention Assessment in Adults with ADHD.

Objectives: The present study compares the utility of eight different tests of vigilance and sustained attention in the neuropsychological examination of adults with Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). Methods: Thirty-one adults diagnosed with ADHD performed eight tests for vigilance and sustained attention, spread over three assessment days. Results: Adults with ADHD showed cognitive impairments in most tests and test variables, even though their sensitivity differed greatly. No specific type of test variable stands out to be the most sensitive, and no evidence for a differential deterioration of performance over time was observed. Conclusion: This study underscores the role of vigilance and sustained attention tests in the assessment of adult ADHD. It is further concluded that summary scores over the entire test duration are sufficient, but that all variables of a test should be considered. Finally, we hypothesize that reassessment on a different day may benefit a more accurate clinical assessment of adults with ADHD, in order to adequately take intraindividual fluctuations and limitations regarding test reliability into account.

Patient-centered placement matching of alcohol-dependent patients based on a standardized intake assessment: process evaluation within an exploratory randomized controlled trial.

BACKGROUND: In the implementation of placement matching guidelines, feasibility has been concerned in previous research. Objectives of this process evaluation were to investigate whether the patient-centered matching guidelines (PCPM) are consistently applied in referral decision-making from an inpatient qualified withdrawal program to a level of care in aftercare, which factors affect whether patients actually receive matched aftercare according to PCPM, and whether its use is feasible and accepted by clinic staff. METHODS: The study was conducted as process evaluation within an exploratory randomized controlled trial in four German psychiatric clinics offering a 7-to-21 day qualified withdrawal program for patients suffering from alcohol dependence, and with measurements taken during detoxification treatment and six months after the initial assessment. PCPM were used with patients in the intervention group by feeding back to them a recommendation for a level of care in aftercare that had been calculated from Measurements in the Addictions for Triage and Evaluation (MATE) and discussed with the staff on the treatment unit. As measurements, The MATE, the Client Socio-Demographic and Service Receipt Inventory-European Version, a documentation form, the Control Preference Scale, and the Motivation for Treatment Scale were administered. A workshop for the staff at the participating trial sites was conducted after data collection was finished. RESULTS: Among 250 patients participating in the study, 165 were interviewed at follow-up, and 125 had received aftercare. Although consistency in the application of PCPM was moderate to substantial within the qualified withdrawal program (Cohen's kappa ≥ .41), it was fair from discharge to follow-up. In multifactorial multinomial regression, the number of foregoing substance abuse treatments predicted whether patients received more likely undermatched (Odds Ratio=1.27; p=.018) or overmatched (Odds Ratio=0.78; p=.054) treatment. While the implementation process during the study was evaluated critically by the staff, they stated a potential of quality assurance, more transparency and patient-centeredness in the use of PCPM. CONCLUSIONS: While the use of PCPM has the potential to enhance the quality of referral decision making within treatment, it may not be sufficient to determine referral decisions for aftercare. TRIAL REGISTRATION: German Clinical Trials Register DRKS00005035 . Registered 03/06/2013.

[Scientific Rationale for the Directive on Opioid Substitution Treatment of the German Medical Association: A Summary]. / Zusammenfassende Darstellung der wissenschaftlichen Grundlagen der Richtlinie der Bundesärztekammer zur Durchführung der substitutionsgestützten Behandlung Opioidabhängiger.

BACKGROUND: According to the Narcotic Drugs Prescription Ordinance (BtMVV), the German Medical Association was commissioned to issue a directive on opioid substitution treatment (OST) based on the current state of scientific medical knowledge. METHOD: For the publication of the initial version of the German Medical Association's directive in 2002, an extensive literature research had been conducted, categorizing the results by levels of evidence. Subsequent revisions in 2010 and 2017 included recent systematic reviews, studies of evidence levels I-III and international guidelines. RESULTS: OST showed its potential in the pursuit of health- and addiction-related as well as psychological and social goals. There was a decline in the rate of mortality, and high risk consumption of illegally acquired opioids was eliminated in 70 to 80% of patients in OST. Psycho-social assistance was found to enhance treatment outcome. Scientific evidence was lacking for the identification of patient groups suitable for different duration of take-home prescription. CONCLUSIONS: With its 2017 amendment, the guideline of the German Medical Association was revised on the basis of the current state of science on substitution treatment. This creates more legal certainty for doctors, and treatment can be delivered in accordance with the existing scientific knowledge. Whether the effects of OST observed in this study have an impact on the care of opioid addicts by attracting more doctors to participate in their treatment needs further evaluation.

Psychosocial burden and body mass index are associated with dermatology-related quality of life in psoriasis patients.

BACKGROUND: Scientific evidence indicates that inflammatory processes may be involved in the progression of both psoriasis and depression via elevated peripheral proinflammatory cytokines. OBJECTIVES: The aim of our study was to assess the association among psychological burden, depressive symptoms and proinflammatory mediators in psoriasis patients. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Forty psoriasis patients were recruited from the Department of Dermatology, University Hospital Essen. In addition to the Psoriasis Area and Severity Index (PASI), mental and physical health were explored using different questionnaires. Furthermore, proinflammatory cytokines were analysed. RESULTS: Patients in the high PASI group showed reduced Dermatology Life Quality Index (DLQI), higher body mass index (BMI), elevated CRP levels as well as impaired physical aspects of quality of life. Regression analyses revealed that somatic and anxiety symptoms accounted for more than 32% of the variance in DLQI, independent of PASI and cytokine levels. CONCLUSION: The data indicate somatic and anxiety symptoms, as well as BMI, to be closely linked to dermatology-related quality of life.

Patient-Centered Placement Matching of Alcohol-Dependent Patients Based on a Standardized Intake Assessment: Primary Outcomes of an Exploratory Randomized Controlled Trial.

BACKGROUND: Placement matching guidelines are promising means to optimize patient-centered care and to match patients' treatment needs. Despite considerable research regarding placement matching approaches to optimize alcohol abuse treatment, findings are inconclusive. OBJECTIVES: To investigate whether the use of patient-centered placement matching (PCPM) guidelines is more effective in reducing heavy drinking and costs 6 months after discharge from an inpatient alcohol withdrawal treatment compared to usual referral to aftercare. Secondary aims were to investigate whether age, gender, trial site or level of care (LOC) are moderators of efficacy and whether patients who were actually referred to the recommended LOC had better treatment outcomes compared to patients who were treated under- or overmatched. METHODS: Design. Exploratory randomized controlled trial with measurements during withdrawal treatment and 6 months after initial assessment. SETTING: Four German psychiatric clinics offering a 7-21 day inpatient qualified withdrawal program for patients suffering from alcohol dependence. PARTICIPANTS: From 1,927 patients who had a primary diagnosis of alcohol dependence and did not have organized aftercare when entering withdrawal treatment, 299 were invited to participate. Of those, 250 were randomized to the intervention group (IG, n = 123) or the control group (CG, n = 127). INTERVENTION: The PCPM were applied to patients of the IG by feeding back a recommendation to a LOC for aftercare that was calculated from the Measurements in the Addictions for Triage and Evaluation (MATE) and discussed with the staff of the treatment unit. Patients of the CG received a general feedback regarding their MATE interview on request. MEASUREMENTS: The MATE, the Client Socio-Demographic and Service Receipt Inventory--European Version and the MATE-Outcomes were administered. Data were analyzed using generalized linear models. RESULTS: In the intention-to-treat analysis, there were no significant differences between IG and CG regarding days of heavy drinking (incident risk ratio [IRR] 1.09; p = 0.640), direct (IRR 1.06; p = 0.779), indirect (IRR 0.77; p = 0.392) and total costs (IRR 0.89; p = 0.496). Furthermore, none of the investigated moderator variables affected statistically significant drinking or cost-related primary outcomes. Regardless of group allocation, patients who received matched aftercare reported significantly fewer days of heavy drinking than undermatched patients (IRR 2.09; p = 0.004). For patients who were overmatched, direct costs were significantly higher (IRR 1.79; p = 0.024), but with no additional effects on alcohol consumption compared to matched patients. CONCLUSIONS: While the use of PCPM failed to affect the actual referral to aftercare, our findings suggest that treating patients on the recommended LOC may have the potential to reduce days of heavy drinking compared to undertreatment and costs compared to overtreatment.

Impact of Buprenorphine Dosage on the Occurrence of Relapses in Patients with Opioid Dependence.

OBJECTIVES: Buprenorphine (BUP) is used in opioid maintenance treatment (OMT) for opioid-dependent patients. Previous real-world evidence suggests that many patients receive lower BUP dosage than recommended, with 38% of patients receiving <6 mg BUP per day. The goal of this research is to evaluate the impact of BUP dosage on the risk of relapses in the real world. METHODS: This study was based on German claims data of 4 million patients. Patients identified by International Classification of Diseases, 10th Edition F11.2 (opioid dependence) between 2011 and 2012 and at least one BUP prescription were selected for this study (n = 364) and followed up over 4 years. Patients were assigned to 6 dosage groups, with <6 mg/day serving as low dosage/reference category. The impact of dosage on the occurrence of relapses (indicated by treatment interruption of >3 months without OMT prescription or hospital admissions) was examined using multivariate logistic regression. Age, gender, comorbidities, fixed/variable dosing, and up-dosing were used as covariates. RESULTS: Results showed a protective effect of higher BUP as higher BUP dosages were significantly associated with a lower risk of relapse. Using low dosage (<6 mg/day) as the reference category, ORs were 0.40 (95% CI 0.19-0.87) at 6-<8 mg/day, 0.28 (0.15-0.56) at 8-<10 mg/day, 0.26 (0.10-0.67) at 10-<12 mg/day, 0.40 (0.18-0.92) at 12-<16 mg/day, and 0.18 (0.09-0.37) at ≥16 mg/day. No covariate showed a significant effect on the probability of relapse. CONCLUSIONS: The present study used a large German health claims dataset to confirm that higher BUP dosages are a protective factor for avoiding relapses in opioid-dependent patients, thus highlighting the importance of adequate BUP dosing in relapse prevention.

Opioid use disorder in Germany: healthcare costs of patients in opioid maintenance treatment.

BACKGROUND: Opioid Use Disorder (OUD) is a substance use disorder with a chronic course associated with comorbid mental and somatic disorders, a high burden of psychosocial problems and opioid maintenance treatment (OMT) as a standard treatment. In the US, OUD imposes a significant economic burden on society, with annual societal costs estimated at over 55 billion dollars. Surprisingly, in Europe and especially in Germany, there is currently no detailed information on the healthcare costs of patients with OUD. The goal of the present research is to gather cost information about OUD patients in OMT with a focus on maintenance medication and relapses. METHODS: We analysed health claims data of four million persons covered by statutory health insurance in Germany, applying a cost-of-illness approach and aimed at examining the direct costs of OMT patients in Germany. Patients with an ICD-10 code F11.2 and at least one claim of an OMT medication were stratified into the treatment groups buprenorphine, methadone or levomethadone, based on the first prescription in each of the follow-up years. Costs were stratified for years with and without relapses. Group comparisons were performed with ANOVA. RESULTS: We analysed 3165 patient years, the total annual sickness funds costs were on average 7470 € per year and patient. Comparing costs of levomethadone (8400 €, SD: 11,080 €), methadone (7090 €, SD: 10,900 €) and buprenorphine (6670 €, SD: 7430 €) revealed significant lower costs of buprenorphine compared to levomethadone (p < 0.0001). In years with relapses, costs were higher than in years without relapses (8178 € vs 7409 €; SD: 11,622, resp. 10,378 €). In years with relapses, hospital costs were the major cost driver. CONCLUSIONS: The present study shows the costs of OUD patients in OMT for the first time with a German dataset. Healthcare costs for patients with an OUD in OMT are associated with more than two times the cost of an average German patients. Preventing relapses might have significant impact on costs. Patients in different OMT were dissimilar which may have affected the cost differences.

The Prescription of Anticraving Medication and its Economic Consequences.

IMPORTANCE: According to recent studies, only a small proportion of alcoholics in the system for addiction treatment receive expedited treatment [Rehm et al.: Sucht 2014;60:93-105] and that those who are untreated are at risk of harmful and dependent alcohol consumption. This is associated with significantly negative effects on morbidity, mortality, and quality of life [Kraus et al.: Sucht 2010;56:337-347]. As a result, not only individuals and their environment suffer but there is also a health economic impact. OBJECTIVE: How often do patients with a primary or secondary diagnosis of alcohol dependence who have been discharged from inpatient treatment receive anticraving medication in the follow-up period of 6 months? DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS: Based on data from a statutory health insurance in Germany, 12,958 patients were investigated regarding alcohol dependence, rates for readmission to hospital, and prescription of anticraving drugs. In addition, outpatient and inpatient treatment costs were calculated. Main Outcomes and Measures: There will be an examination of how often anticraving medications are prescribed and what the economic consequences are. RESULTS: Two hundred and eighty-eight (2.22%) patients received anticraving medication, 98 (0.76%) in the first 6 months after inpatient treatment. Fifty-nine of the 288 patients were monitored with a pre- and postcomparison over a 90-day period. Inpatient treatment fell from 0.83 times (±1.10) during the 3 months afterward to 0.79 (±1.01). On average, the duration of an inpatient stay before anticraving treatment (n = 29) was 17.34 days (±14.37), with an average cost of EUR 4,142.70 (±2,721.28). Among the anticraving treatment group, this fell to 14.03 days (±9.96) with an average cost of EUR 3,685.43 (±2,307.67). Overall, the average outpatient and inpatient treatment costs dropped from EUR 1,533.88 before treatment to EUR 1,462.76 after treatment. If this is extrapolated to the whole group, it leads to between EUR 921,500 and EUR 6.6 million saving for a health insurance company. CONCLUSION: Anticraving medications are hardly ever prescribed. Their routine use could reduce hospital readmission rates and save on health-care costs.

Excess costs of alcohol-dependent patients in German psychiatric care compared with matched non-alcohol-dependent individuals from the general population: a secondary analysis of two datasets.

OBJECTIVES: Heavy alcohol use can cause somatic and mental diseases, affects patients' social life and is associated with social isolation, unemployment and reduced quality of life. Therefore, societal costs of alcohol dependence are expected to be high. The aim of this study was to estimate excess costs of patients with alcohol dependence diagnosed using the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, 4th Edition criteria compared with individuals without alcohol dependence in Germany. DESIGN: In a secondary analysis, baseline data of patients with alcohol dependence enrolled in a randomised controlled trial (German Clinical Trials Register DRS00005035) were compared with data collected via a telephone survey from individuals without alcohol dependence and that had been matched by entropy balancing. Health service use was evaluated retrospectively for a 6-month period. SETTINGS: Four German psychiatric university clinics (patients with alcohol dependence) and the German general adult population (individuals without alcohol dependence). PARTICIPANTS: n=236 adult patients with alcohol dependence and n=4687 adult individuals without alcohol dependence. PRIMARY AND SECONDARY OUTCOME MEASURES: The excess costs of health service use, absenteeism and unemployment of patients with alcohol dependence were calculated and compared with individuals without alcohol dependence. In subgroup analyses, the associations between excess cost and gender, comorbidities and the duration of disease were investigated. RESULTS: Total 6-month excess costs of €11 839 (95% CI €11 529 to €12 147) were caused by direct excess costs of €4349 (95% CI €4129 to €4566) and indirect costs of €7490 (95% CI €5124 to €9856). In particular, costs of inpatient treatment, formal long-term care, absenteeism and unemployment were high. CONCLUSIONS: Alcohol dependence causes substantial direct and indirect excess costs. Cost-effective interventions to prevent and treat alcohol dependence are urgently needed. TRIAL REGISTRATION NUMBER: DRKS00005035.

Needs, expectations and consequences for children growing up in a family where the parent has a mental illness.

The lack of pan-European guidelines for empowering children of parents with mental illness led to the EU project CAMILLE - Empowerment of Children and Adolescents of Mentally Ill Parents through Training of Professionals working with children and adolescents. The aim of this initial task in the project was to analyse needs, expectations and consequences for children with respect to living with a parent with mental illness from the perspective of professionals and family members. This qualitative research was conducted in England, Finland, Germany, Italy, Norway, Poland and Scotland with 96 professionals, parents with mental illness, adult children and partners of parents with mental illness. A framework analysis method was used. Results of the study highlighted that the main consequences described for children of parental mental illness were role reversal; emotional and behavioural problems; lack of parent's attention and stigma. The main needs of these children were described as emotional support, security and multidisciplinary help. Implications for practice are that professionals working with parents with mental illness should be aware of the specific consequences for the children and encourage parents in their parental role; multi-agency collaboration is necessary; schools should provide counselling and prevent stigma.

Data on deviance predictability in the assessment of mismatch negativity in patients with schizophrenia.

We investigated the MMN at electrode Fz to 12% temporally predictable or unpredictable duration decrement deviant stimuli in 29 healthy controls and 31 schizophrenia patients. With a stimulus onset asynchronicity of 500 ms in the regular predictable condition, a deviant occurred every 4 s while it varied randomly in the unpredictable condition. Here we report detailed data tables and multivariate analysis of variance results (MANOVA) on MMN, P3a and standard ERP data including details on follow-up analyses. An extended figure shows MMN difference curves and averages to standard and deviant stimuli in both experimental conditions and subject groups.

Escape from HLA-B*08-restricted CD8 T cells by hepatitis C virus is associated with fitness costs.

The inherent sequence diversity of the hepatitis C virus (HCV) represents a major hurdle for the adaptive immune system to control viral replication. Mutational escape within targeted CD8 epitopes during acute HCV infection has been well documented and is one possible mechanism for T-cell failure. HLA-B*08 was recently identified as one HLA class I allele associated with spontaneous clearance of HCV replication. Selection of escape mutations in the immunodominant HLA-B*08-restricted epitope HSKKKCDEL(1395-1403) was observed during acute infection. However, little is known about the impact of escape mutations in this epitope on viral replication capacity. Their previously reported reversion back toward the consensus residue in patients who do not possess the B*08 allele suggests that the consensus sequence in this epitope is advantageous for viral replication in the absence of immune pressure. The aim of this study was to determine the impact of mutational escape from this immunodominant epitope on viral replication. We analyzed it with a patient cohort with chronic HCV genotype 1b infection and in a single-source outbreak (genotype 1b). Sequence changes in this highly conserved region are rare and selected almost exclusively in the presence of the HLA-B*08 allele. When tested in the subgenomic replicon (Con1), the observed mutations reduce viral replication compared with the prototype sequence. The results provide direct evidence that escape mutations in this epitope are associated with fitness costs and that the antiviral effect of HLA-B*08-restricted T cells is sufficiently strong to force the virus to adopt a relatively unfavorable sequence.