Characteristics of Suicide Attempters and Ideators in a Clinical Sample of Substance Users.

There is little research to distinguish those who attempt suicide and those who only consider suicide, and the role that substance use plays in this progression. We aim to describe clinical correlates of suicide attempters versus ideators in substance users. We examined characteristics of substance users (N = 185) that had either a suicide attempt within the last 6 months (n = 94) or were suicide ideators (n = 91). Suicide attempters displayed significant different clinical profiles to that of non-attemptors. Relative to ideators, attempters had greater scores on impulsivity, the brief psychiatric scale and more likely to be female and a recent psychostimulant user. Logistic regression revealed that male gender was associated with a decreased odds of a previous suicide attempt (OR = 0.37, p < 0.05) and greater impulsivity scores were associated with increased odds of an attempt (OR = 1.15, p < 0.05), although entering interaction terms diminished the role of impulsivity and revealed a significant interaction of alcohol use x depression. While impulsivity was a significant predictor of suicide attempt relative to depression or alcohol use alone, this reduced when considering interactions between psychological characteristics and substance use, whereby the effect of alcohol use on the likelihood of a recent suicide attempt varied at different levels of depression.

Single-case experimental design intervention for inappropriate sexualised behaviour in adolescent traumatic brain injury.

PURPOSE: This study develops the evidence-base of interventions for inappropriate sexualised behaviour following brain injury involving adolescents. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We describe a Single-Case Multiple Baseline Design intervention of Positive Behavioural Support (PBS) across settings. It involves a 16 year old adolescent who had a severe Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) and presented with sexualised talk and touch. PBS may potentially be a successful intervention to remediate this. The aim of the article was to determine whether PBS could reduce the frequency and impact of the sexualised behaviour in a variety of his key daily settings. Visual and quantitative analyses were completed before and after the introduction of the PBS intervention within home and school settings. RESULTS: Findings showed reduction in the frequency of sexualised talk and touch alongside subjective impact ratings in the home. Downward trends were encouraging in the school settings, but demonstrated smaller effects than home. The Overt Behaviour Scale showed a reduction in overall severity and the impact on others. CONCLUSIONS: This study shows the promising impact on behaviour of introducing the PBS intervention within the home and school settings to support positive clinical change evidenced in the reduction in target behaviours and subjective response for caregivers.

Positive Behavioural Support is an effective intervention for managing inappropriate sexualised behaviour in a young person with a traumatic brain injury.Positive Behavioural Support can improve the subjective experience of the young person and their caregivers in parallel to managing behaviour.Single Case Experimental Design can be utilised across care and home settings for measuring change in person-centred interventions.

Comparison of alphabetical versus categorical display format for medication order entry in a simulated touch screen anesthesia information management system: an experiment in clinician-computer interaction in anesthesia.

BACKGROUND: Anesthesia information management system (AIMS) records should be designed and configured to facilitate the accurate and prompt recording of multiple drugs administered coincidentally or in rapid succession. METHODS: We proposed two touch-screen display formats for use with our department's new EPIC touch-screen AIMS. In one format, medication "buttons" were arranged in alphabetical order (i.e. A-C, D-H etc.). In the other, buttons were arranged in categories (Common, Fluids, Cardiovascular, Coagulation etc.). Both formats were modeled on an iPad screen to resemble the AIMS interface. Anesthesia residents, anesthesiologists, and Certified Registered Nurse Anesthetists (n = 60) were then asked to find and touch the correct buttons for a series of medications whose names were displayed to the side of the entry screen. The number of entries made within 2 minutes was recorded. This was done 3 times for each format, with the 1st format chosen randomly. Data were analyzed from the third trials with each format to minimize differences in learning. RESULTS: The categorical format had a mean of 5.6 more drugs entered using the categorical method in two minutes than the alphabetical format (95% confidence interval [CI] 4.5 to 6.8, P < 0.0001). The findings were the same regardless of the order of testing (i.e. alphabetical-categorical vs. categorical - alphabetical) and participants' years of clinical experience. Most anesthesia providers made no (0) errors for most trials (N = 96/120 trials, lower 95% limit 73%, P < 0.0001). There was no difference in error rates between the two formats (P = 0.53). CONCLUSIONS: The use of touch-screen user interfaces in healthcare is increasingly common. Arrangement of drugs names in a categorical display format in the medication order-entry touch screen of an AIMS can result in faster data entry compared to an alphabetical arrangement of drugs. Results of this quality improvement project were used in our department's design of our final intraoperative electronic anesthesia record. This testing approach using cognitive and usability engineering methods can be used to objectively design and evaluate many aspects of the clinician-computer interaction in electronic health records.

Reflections on the physical, executive developmental and systems applied framework in child neuropsychological rehabilitation.

This paper describes the influence of the Physical, Executive, Developmental and Systems (PEDS) framework on the delivery of community-based child neuropsychological rehabilitation and how it has been enhanced by the proliferation of neuroscientific, neuropsychological and psychosocial research and evidence-base in childhood brain injury and rehabilitation over the past decade. The paper signposts to some of the key models, theories and concepts currently shaping service delivery. Application of the PEDS framework in a clinical case is described.

Substance misuse and early psychosis.

OBJECTIVE: This paper sought to review current knowledge about the relationship between substance misuse and early psychosis. METHODS: A literature search was conducted using Medline and restricting the search to articles after 1996. Additional articles were sourced from reference lists of relevant articles. RESULTS: There is a high prevalence of substance misuse among persons with early psychosis, with cannabis and alcohol featuring prominently. Substance misuse is associated with earlier onset and possibly more positive symptoms, although apparently not with greater cognitive impairment. Cannabis appears to confer an increased likelihood of developing schizophrenia in biologically vulnerable individuals. Amphetamines also cause psychosis which may become chronic, although specific vulnerability to this effect is less well established. Many cases of so-called 'drug-induced psychosis' become diagnosed as schizophrenia in later years. Specific intervention programs report positive outcomes with regard to substance misuse and the course of psychosis. CONCLUSIONS: Substance misuse should always be assessed in this patient group, bearing in mind the potential interactive causes of psychopathology. Intervention is of value in improving outcomes.

The efficacy of an opportunistic cognitive behavioral intervention package (OCB) on substance use and comorbid suicide risk: a multisite randomized controlled trial.

OBJECTIVE: People with substance use disorders who present with suicidal behavior are at high risk of subsequent suicide. There are few effective treatments specifically tailored for this population that diminish this risk. We aimed to assess the impact of an opportunistic cognitive behavioral intervention package (OCB) among adult outpatients with a substance use and comorbid suicide risk. METHOD: A randomized controlled trial was conducted across 2 sites in which 185 patients presenting with suicide risk and concurrent substance use received either OCB (8 sessions plus group therapy) or treatment as usual (TAU) over a 6-month period. Primary outcomes were suicidal behavior (suicide attempts, suicidal intent and presence of suicide ideation) and level of drug and alcohol consumption. Secondary outcomes were changes in psychological measures of suicide ideation, depression, anxiety, and self-efficacy. RESULTS: There were no completed suicides, and only 2 participants reported suicide attempts at follow-up. Suicide ideation, alcohol consumption, and cannabis use fell over time but no significant Treatment × Time differences were found. There were also no differences between OCB and TAU over time on psychological measures of depression, anxiety, or self-efficacy. Suicide ideation at 6-month follow-up was predicted by cannabis use and higher scores on the Brief Psychiatric Rating Scale at baseline. CONCLUSIONS: The opportunistic cognitive behavioral intervention package did not appear to be beneficial in reducing suicide ideation, drug and alcohol consumption, or depression relative to treatment as usual.

What to do about attention and memory problems in children with CFS/ME: a neuropsychological approach.

Our recent research has shown that children with chronic fatigue syndrome/myalgic encephalomyopathy (CFS/ME) describe problems with focused attention, sustained attention, recall and stress. Neuropsychological testing demonstrated lower scores for sustained attention, switching attention, divided attention, auditory learning and immediate recall compared to normative data. This paper describes what is currently known about memory and attention problems in children with CFS/ME and suggests a variety of strategies that could be used to overcome these difficulties.