Ksenija Yeeles

Effectiveness of financial incentives to improve adherence to maintenance treatment with antipsychotics: cluster randomised controlled trial.

Objective To test whether offering financial incentives to patients with psychotic disorders is effective in improving adherence to maintenance treatment with antipsychotics. Design Cluster randomised controlled trial. Setting Community mental health teams in secondary psychiatric care in the United Kingdom. Participants Patients with a diagnosis of schizophrenia, schizoaffective disorder, or bipolar disorder, who were prescribed long acting antipsychotic (depot) injections but had received 75% or less of the prescribed injections. We randomly allocated 73 teams with a total of 141 patients. Primary outcome data were available for 35 intervention teams with 75 patients (96% of randomised) and for 31 control teams with 56 patients (89% of randomised). Interventions Participants in the intervention group were offered £15 (€17;

Why do some voluntary patients feel coerced into hospitalisation? A mixed-methods study.

22) for each depot injection over a 12 month period. Participants in the control condition received treatment as usual. Main outcome measure The primary outcome was the percentage of prescribed depot injections given during the 12 month intervention period. Results 73 teams with 141 consenting patients were randomised, and outcomes were assessed for 131 patients (93%). Average baseline adherence was 69% in the intervention group and 67% in the control group. During the 12 month trial period adherence was 85% in the intervention group and 71% in the control group. The adjusted effect estimate was 11.5% (95% confidence interval 3.9% to 19.0%, P=0.003). A secondary outcome was an adherence of ≥95%, which was achieved in 28% of the intervention group and 5% of the control group (adjusted odds ratio 8.21, 95% confidence interval 2.00 to 33.67, P=0.003). Although differences in clinician rated clinical improvement between the groups failed to reach statistical significance, patients in the intervention group had more favourable subjective quality of life ratings (β=0.71, 95% confidence interval 0.26 to 1.15, P=0.002). The number of admissions to hospital and adverse events were low in both groups and did not show substantial differences. Conclusion Offering modest financial incentives to patients with psychotic disorders is an effective method for improving adherence to maintenance treatment with antipsychotics. Trial registration Current Controlled Trials ISRCTN77769281.

Effect of increased compulsion on readmission to hospital or disengagement from community services for patients with psychosis: follow-up of a cohort from the OCTET trial

This study aimed to investigate factors linked to perceived coercion at admission and during treatment among voluntary inpatients. Quantitative and qualitative methods were used. Two hundred seventy patients were screened for perceived coercion at admission. Those who felt coerced into admission rated their perceived coercion during treatment a month after admission. Patient characteristics and experiences were tested as predictors of coercion. In-depth interviews on experiences leading to perceived coercion were conducted with 36 participants and analysed thematically. Thirty-four percent of patients felt coerced into admission and half of those still felt coerced a month later. No patient characteristics were associated with perceived coercion. Those whose satisfaction with treatment increased more markedly between baseline and a month later were less likely to feel coerced a month after admission. In the qualitative interviews three themes leading to perceived coercion were identified: viewing the hospital as ineffective and other treatments as more appropriate, not participating in the admission and treatment and not feeling respected. Involving patients in the decision-making and treating them with respect may reduce perceived coercion.

A randomised controlled trial of time-limited individual placement and support: IPS-LITE trial.

BACKGROUND Community treatment orders (CTOs) have not been shown in randomised trials to reduce readmission to hospital in patients with psychosis, but these trials have been short (11-12 months). We previously investigated the effect of CTOs on readmission rates over 12 months in a randomised trial (OCTET). Here, we present follow-up data for a cohort of individuals recruited to our original trial to examine the long-term effect of CTOs on readmissions and the risk of patients disengaging from mental health services temporarily or enduringly. METHODS For OCTET, an open-label, parallel, randomised controlled trial, we recruited patients aged 18-65 years involuntarily admitted to mental health hospitals in 32 trusts in England, with a diagnosis of psychosis and deemed suitable for CTOs by their clinicians. Between Nov 10, 2008, and Feb 22, 2011, we recruited and randomly assigned 336 eligible patients (1:1) to be discharged on either a CTO (n=167) or to voluntary status via Section 17 leave (control group; n=169). For the analysis presented in this report, we assessed data at 36 months for 330 of these patients. We tested rates of readmission to hospital, time to first readmission, number of readmissions, and duration of readmission in patients assigned to CTO versus those assigned to control, and in all patients with CTO experience at any time in the 36 months versus those without. We also tested whether duration of CTO affected readmission outcomes in patients with CTO experience. We examined discontinuation (≥60 days between clinical contacts) and disengagement from services (no clinical contact for ≥90 days with no return to contact) in the whole cohort. OCTET is registered with isrctn.com, number ISRCTN73110773. FINDINGS We obtained data for 330 patients in the relevant period between Nov 10, 2008 and Feb 22, 2014 (36 months after the last patient was randomly assigned to OCTET). We identified no difference between the randomised groups in the numbers of patients readmitted (100 [61%] of 165 CTOs vs 113 [68%] of 165 controls; relative risk 0·88 [95% CI 0·75-1·03]), number of readmissions (mean 2·4 readmissions [SD 1·91] vs 2·2 [1·43]; incident density ratio [IDR] 0·97 [95% CI 0·76-1·24]), duration of readmissions (median 117·5 days [IQR 63-303] vs 139·5 days [63·0-309·5]; IDR 0·84 [95% CI 0·51-1·38]), or time to first readmission (median 601·0 days [95% CI 387·0-777·0] vs 420·0 days [352·0-548·0]; hazard ratio [HR] 0·81 [95% CI 0·62-1·06]). The CTO experience group had significantly more readmissions than the group without (IDR 1·39 [95% CI 1·07-1·79]) and we noted no significant difference between groups in readmission rates, duration of readmission, or time to first readmission. We did not identify a linear relationship between readmission outcomes and duration of CTO. 19 (6%) patients disengaged from services (12 [7%] of 165 CTOs vs 7 [4%] of 165 controls). Longer duration of compulsion was associated with later disengagement (HR 0·946 [95% CI 0·90-0·99, p=0·023). 187 (57%) experienced no discontinuities, and we noted no significant difference between the CTO and control groups for time to disengagement or number of discontinuities. Levels of discontinuity were associated with compulsion (IDR 0·973 [95% CI 0·96-0·99, p<0·0001]. We identified no effect of baseline characteristics on the associations between compulsion and disengagement. INTERPRETATION We identified no evidence that increased compulsion leads to improved readmission outcomes or to disengagement from services in patients with psychosis over 36 months. The level of persisting clinical follow-up was much higher than expected, irrespective of CTO status, and could partly account for the absence of CTO effect. The findings from our 36-month follow-up support our original findings that CTOs do not provide patient benefits, and the continued high level of their use should be reviewed. FUNDING National Institute for Health Research.

Non-consent bias in OCTET – Authors' reply

BACKGROUND Individual placement and support (IPS) has been repeatedly demonstrated to be the most effective form of mental health vocational rehabilitation. Its no-discharge policy plus fixed caseloads, however, makes it expensive to provide. AIMS To test whether introducing a time limit for IPS would significantly alter its clinical effectiveness and consequently its potential cost-effectiveness. METHOD Referrals to an IPS service were randomly allocated to either standard IPS or to time-limited IPS (IPS-LITE). IPS-LITE participants were referred back to their mental health teams if still unemployed at 9 months or after 4 months employment support. The primary outcome at 18 months was working for 1 day. Secondary outcomes comprised other vocational measures plus clinical and social functioning. The differential rates of discharge were used to calculate a notional increased capacity and to model potential rates and costs of employment. RESULTS A total of 123 patients were randomised and data were collected on 120 patients at 18 months. The two groups (IPS-LITE = 62 and IPS = 61) were well matched at baseline. Rates of employment were equal at 18 months (IPS-LITE = 24 (41%) and IPS = 27 (46%)) at which time 57 (97%) had been discharged from the IPS-LITE service and 16 (28%) from IPS. Only 11 patients (4 IPS-LITE and 7 IPS) obtained their first employment after 9 months. There were no significant differences in any other outcomes. IPS-LITE discharges generated a potential capacity increase of 46.5% compared to 12.7% in IPS which would translate into 35.8 returns to work in IPS-LITE compared to 30.6 in IPS over an 18-month period if the rates remained constant. CONCLUSIONS IPS-LITE is equally effective to IPS and only minimal extra employment is gained by persisting beyond 9 months. If released capacity is utilised with similar outcomes, IPS-LITE results in an increase by 17% in numbers gaining employment within 18 months compared to IPS and will increase with prolonged follow-up. IPS-LITE may be more cost-effective and should be actively considered as an alternative within public services.

Factorial structure and long-term stability of the Autonomy Preference Index.

www.thelancet.com/psychiatry Vol 2 December 2015 e33 OCTET were more likely to take their treatment whether or not they were assigned to the intervention. Indeed, community treatment orders have naturalistically signi fi cantly improved treatment com pliance and reduced hospitalisation in patients receiving care from assertive outreach teams, whereas the OCTET reports did not disclose how many patients in the OCTET sample were under the care of assertive outreach or forensic services. Furthermore, the non-consent bias in the study sample could reasonably explain the striking (and superfi cially counterintuitive) finding that the OCTET cohort remained highly engaged with mental health services for the whole 3 year follow-up period, whether or not they were subject to a community treatment order. Thus, the findings from OCTET cannot be reliably extrapolated to the broader population receiving community treatment orders in clinical practice. In the continued absence of solid evidence from randomised controlled trials, clinicians will still rely mainly on their expert clinical judgment to evaluate the eff ectiveness of community treatment orders in individual patients.

Reply: To PMID 25495209.

The autonomy preference index scale (API) has been designed to measure patient preference for 2 dimensions of autonomy: Their desire to take part in making medical decisions (decision making, [DM]) and their desire to be informed about their illness and the treatment (information seeking; [IS]). The DM dimension is measured by 6 general items together with 9 items related to 3 clinical vignettes (3 × 3 items). The IS dimension is measured by 8 items. While the API is widely used, a review of literature has identified several inconsistencies in the way it is scored. The first aim of this study was to determine the best scoring structure of the API on the basis of validity and reliability evidence. The second aim was to investigate the long-term stability of API scores. Two-hundred and 85 patients with a diagnosis of psychosis were assessed as they were about to be discharged from involuntary psychiatric hospitalization and they were reassessed after 6 and 12 months. Confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) revealed that a 3-factor solution was most adequate and that 2 distinct DM subscales should be preferred to 1 total DM score. While internal consistency estimates of the 3 subscales were good, the long-term stability of API scores was only modest. Multigroup-CFA revealed scalar invariance indicating API scores kept the same meaning longitudinally. In conclusion, a 3-factor structure seemed to be most adequate for the API scale. Long-term stability estimates suggested that clinicians should regularly assess patients’ preferences for autonomy because API scores fluctuate over time.

Is it possible to measure social and occupational functioning in a CMHT

controlled trial (4), clinicians could apply ‘mechanistic reasoning’, as described by Howick et al. (5) to evaluate the effectiveness of CTOs in individual patients. For instance, in a subgroup of patients who are chronically non-compliant with treatment leading to frequent relapses, CTOs result in a dramatic improvement in compliance with depot medication. If the CTO is lifted, non-compliance recurs. Here, the simple causal mechanism by which a CTO produces observable compliance can be directly assessed, and further improved clinical outcomes such as reduced hospitalisation could be reasonably expected and attributed to the CTO, in the absence of other plausible explanations. Recent figures (www.hscic.gov.uk) demonstrate that despite repeated claims of their ineffectiveness (1, 2), CTOs have remained substantially used by clinicians in England, with 4335 patients (25.3% of those who were subject to the Mental Health Act) being subject to a CTO at the end of January 2015.

Community treatment orders for patients with psychosis (OCTET): a randomised controlled trial

Many people with psychiatric disorders are unable to find suitable employment or adequate support to maintain it. The MINI ICF‐APP allows for focused monitoring of areas where support is needed. The authors assessed the usability, acceptability and usefulness of the MINI ICF‐APP within a community mental health team to establish whether this instrument really can improve identification and the targeting of evidence‐based employment interventions for those with psychiatric disorders.