Forensic patients in state psychiatric hospitals: 1999-2016.

INTRODUCTION: In recent years mental health officials have reported a rise in the number of forensic patients present within their state psychiatric hospitals and the adverse impacts that these trends had on their hospitals. To date there have been no large-scale national studies conducted to determine if these trends are specific only to a few states or representative of a more global trend. The purpose of this study was to investigate these reported trends and their national prevalence. METHODS: The forensic directors of each state behavioral health agency (including the District of Columbia) were sent an Excel spreadsheet that had two components: a questionnaire and data tables with information collected between 1996 and 2014 from the State Profiling System maintained by the National Association of State Mental Health Program Directors Research Institute. They were asked to verify and update these data and respond to the questionnaire. RESULTS: Responses showed a 76% increase nationally in the number of forensic patients in state psychiatric hospitals between 1999 and 2014. The largest increase was for individuals who were court-committed after being found incompetent to stand trial and in need of inpatient restoration services. DISCUSSION: The data reviewed here indicate that increases in forensic referrals to state psychiatric hospitals, while not uniform across all states, are nonetheless substantial. CONCLUSION: More research is needed to determine whether this multi-state trend is merely a coincidence of differing local factors occurring in many states, or a product of larger systemic factors affecting mental health agencies and the courts.

A longitudinal description of incompetent to stand trial admissions to a state hospital.

OBJECTIVE: Evidence is clear that the nation is experiencing an increasing number of incompetent to stand trial (IST) admissions to state hospitals. As a result, defendants in need of treatment can wait in jail for weeks for admission for restoration. This study was conducted to better understand this growing population and to inform hospital administration about the characteristics of IST admissions. METHODS: The study was conducted at the Department of State Hospitals (DSH) facility in Napa (DSH-Napa), a 1200-bed primarily forensic inpatient psychiatric facility located in northern California. The records of patients found IST and admitted to DSH-Napa for restoration of competence between the dates of 1/1/2009 and 12/31/2016 were eligible for inclusion in the study. RESULTS: There were a total of 3158 unduplicated IST admissions available during the specified time period. Our data indicate that the number of admissions with more than 15 prior arrests increased significantly, from 17.7% in 2009 to 46.4% in 2016. In contrast, the percent of patients reporting prior inpatient psychiatric hospitalization evidenced a consistent decrease over time from over 76% in 2009 to less than 50% in 2016. CONCLUSION: Our data add to the body of literature on the potential causes of the nationwide increase in competency referrals. The literature is clear that jails and prisons are now the primary provider of the nation's mental health care. Our data suggest that another system has assumed this role: state hospitals and other providers charged with restoring individuals to competence.

Intradural spinal tumors: 10 - years surgical experience in a single institution.

OBJECTIVES: The aim of the study is to present the therapeutic results of intradural tumor management over a 10 years period in a single institution. PATIENTS AND METHODS: The study consists in a prospective case series of patients treated at the neurosurgery service of the Social Security Institute of Mexico State and Provinces (ISSSEMYM), between January 2006 and December 2016. All patients were provided with information about the procedure and signed informed consent and institutional board approved files review for this study. RESULTS: Thirty-five patients with intradural tumor were treated between 2006-2016. Most frequent lesions were extramedullary (30 patients, 85.7%). Most frequent tumor was Schwannoma, with thoracic/thoraco-lumbar location, being the most frequent location. All patients underwent surgical treatment, with total gross resection accomplished in 19 patients (54.3%). Surgical complication rate was 11.4%. Spine instrumentation was necessary in 26 patients (74.3%) because of bone destruction by the tumor, or bone removal for approach. All patients with intramedullary lesions and 5 patients (16.7%) with extramedullary lesions received post-operative radiotherapy. During the follow-up, 8.5% of patients had recurrence/progression of residual disease. CONCLUSIONS: Microsurgery is the treatment of choice for intradural spinal tumors, and gross total resection with low morbidity must be the surgical goal. When this is not possible, partial resection and adjuvant therapy with radiosurgery are a valid option. Patients most be long followed-up because of recurrence risk or disease progression.

Smoking cessation care in state-operated or state-supported psychiatric hospitals: from policy to practice.

OBJECTIVES: The aims of this study were to identify changes in smoking policies and their implementation and to determine the level of smoking cessation care provided at state-operated or state-supported psychiatric inpatient hospitals. METHODS: Hospitals were surveyed in 2008 (N=219) and 2011 (N=206) about their smoking policies and practices, and changes in specific policies and practices, such as staff specialty training about smoking cessation care, assessment at intake, provision of smoking cessation treatment and education, and aftercare planning, were examined. Smoking cessation care was categorized as best, good, average, or poor. RESULTS: The survey was completed in both 2008 and 2011 by 108 hospitals. The number of hospitals prohibiting smoking rose by 73%, from 48% in 2008 to 83% in 2011. The provision of specialty training to staff did not significantly improve. Nearly all hospitals assessed smoking status at admission, and nicotine replacement therapy was provided by more hospitals than any other treatment in both 2008 and 2011. The number of hospitals providing no follow-up of smoking cessation care after discharge dropped significantly, from 64% to 41%, and significantly more provided good versus average smoking cessation care. CONCLUSIONS: Analysis of smoking policies at state-operated or state-supported psychiatric inpatient hospitals found significant movement in adopting nonsmoking policies and some increase in active treatment, notably wellness counseling. Educational resources have not reached full penetration, and continuum of care activities are also lagging behind. Additional resources and staff training may be needed to continue to address smoking cessation both during and after hospitalization.

From beauty to despair: the rise and fall of the American State Mental Hospital.

The American State Hospital has survived over 200 years. Society once viewed state hospitals as an absolute necessity and each state constructed numerous hospitals. Over time, the image of the state hospital as a means to cure the mentally ill changed drastically. The public perceived state hospitals as snake pits that warehoused the mentally ill and the state hospital was nearly destroyed. Nevertheless, the state hospital remains today with purposes similar to its ancestors and some that are very different. This paper examines the many influences that created the state hospital. Additionally, this paper addresses the Kirkbride Model, treatment methods and practices over time, and how the state hospital fell into disfavor as a means to treat the mentally ill. The paper concludes with comments on the mental health system today, in relation to the state hospital's role in treatment.

The changing role of the state psychiatric hospital.

State hospitals were once the most prominent components of U.S. public mental health systems. But a major focus of mental health policy over the past fifty years has been to close these facilities. These efforts led to a 95 percent reduction in the country's state hospital population. However, more than 200 state hospitals remain open, serving a declining but challenging patient population. Using national and state-level data, this paper discusses the contemporary public mental hospital, the forces shaping its use, the challenges it faces, and its possible future role in the larger mental health system.

Civil commitment is disappearing in Oregon.

Over the past 20 years, in Oregon, the number of individuals entered into the civil commitment process has risen, but the number of those actually committed has gone down dramatically. This commentary compares commitment data during a time when the state's population has increased substantially, while commitment rates have dropped by 50 percent. There are many possible factors that have contributed to this decline in commitment rates, including a stricter functional definition of "danger to self or others," but perhaps the most significant reason is the shortage of the acute psychiatric beds that are essential in the commitment process. It is hard not to conclude that civil commitment in this state is headed toward functional extinction.

Evaluating a community-based mental health service focusing on severe mental illness. The Verona experience.

OBJECTIVE: To describe the development of a community-based mental health service, the patterns of care provided by this new service established in 1978 and its costs. METHOD: The South-Verona Psychiatric Case Register, the South-Verona Outcome Project and studies designed to assess costs provided process and outcome data. RESULTS: This paper summarizes descriptive statistics as well as the results of some evaluative studies conducted over the last 25 years in Verona, Italy. It reports patterns of care provided over the years by this new, comprehensive community-based service, targeted to the severely mentally ill but available also to all other residents in the area who need mental health care. CONCLUSION: Developing community-based mental health care requires a series of coordinated actions that need to be pursued over a long period of time. Service evaluation, including costs assessment, is an important part of this exercise.

Atención nefrológica extrahospitalaria: ¿es posible en el entorno de un hospital comarcal? / Extra-hospital nephrology care. is it the setting of a regional hospital?

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Optimal dosing of atypical antipsychotics in adults: a review of the current evidence.

This review describes dosing strategies used to optimize the beneficial effects of atypical antipsychotic medications. Differences between manufacturers' recommended dosing and actual clinical practice are reconciled using evidence from pivotal double-blind randomized registration studies, other randomized clinical trials, case series, and case reports. With clozapine and perhaps olanzapine, plasma levels are correlated with therapeutic response; with risperidone, plasma levels are not correlated with therapeutic response but may be related to the occurrence of extrapyramidal symptoms. Information related to optimal dosing of quetiapine and ziprasidone is more limited. In clinical practice, the mean daily dose of risperidone has decreased, whereas that for olanzapine is increasing. The percentage of patients receiving quetiapine at doses above the manufacturer's recommended maximum is higher than would be expected, further illustrating that dosing ranges established during registration studies may not reflect the needs of day-to-day practice.

The state of the state mental hospital at the turn of the century.

There is a core of services whose specific content varies from place to place that still appears to belong to the state mental hospital.