Michael L. Birnbaum

Pharmacoepidemiology of antipsychotic use in youth with ADHD: trends and clinical implications.

Although concern has been raised about antipsychotic prescribing to youth with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), the available database is limited to individual studies. Therefore, in order to provide a synthesis of prevalence and time trends, we conducted a systematic review and pooled analysis of pharmaco-epidemiologic data on antipsychotic use in ADHD youth. Of 1806 hits, 21 studies (N) were retained that reported analyzable data for three separate populations: 1) antipsychotic-treated youth (N = 15, n = 341,586); 2) ADHD youth (N = 9, n = 6,192,368), and 3) general population youth (N = 5, n = 14,284,916). Altogether, 30.5 ± 18.5 % of antipsychotic-treated youth had ADHD. In longitudinal studies, this percentage increased over time (1998–2007) from 21.7 ± 7.1 % to 27.7 ± 7.7 %, ratio = 1.3 ± 0.4. Furthermore, 11.5 ± 17.5 % of ADHD youth received antipsychotics. In longitudinal studies, this percentage also increased (1998–2006) from 5.5 ± 2.6 % to 11.4 ± 6.7 %, ratio = 2.1 ± 0.6. Finally, 0.12 ± 0.07 % of youth in the general population were diagnosed with ADHD and received antipsychotics. Again, in longitudinal studies, this percentage increased over time (1993–2007): 0.13 ± 0.09 % to 0.44 ± 0.49 %, ratio = 3.1 ± 2.2. Taken together, these data indicate that antipsychotics are used by a clinically relevant and increasing number of youth with ADHD. Reasons for and risk/benefit ratios of this practice with little evidence base require further investigation.

Efficacy of 42 Pharmacologic Cotreatment Strategies Added to Antipsychotic Monotherapy in Schizophrenia: Systematic Overview and Quality Appraisal of the Meta-analytic Evidence

Importance Limited treatment responses in schizophrenia prompted the testing of combining an antipsychotic drug treatment with a second psychotropic medication. A comprehensive evaluation of the efficacy of multiple medication combinations is missing. Objective To summarize and compare the meta-analytically determined efficacy of pharmacologic combination strategies of antipsychotic drugs in adults with schizophrenia. Data Sources Systematic search of PubMed and PsycInfo until May 13, 2016. Study Selection Meta-analyses of randomized clinical trials comparing the efficacy of antipsychotic drugs combined with other antipsychotic or nonantipsychotic medications vs placebos or antipsychotic monotherapy among adults with schizophrenia. Data Extraction and Synthesis Independent reviewers extracted the data and assessed the quality of the methods of the included meta-analyses using A Measurement Tool to Assess Systematic Reviews (AMSTAR), adding 6 new items to rate their quality. Effect sizes, expressed as standardized mean difference /Hedges g or risk ratio, were compared separately for combinations with any antipsychotic drug and for combinations with clozapine. Main Outcomes and Measures The primary outcome was total symptom reduction. Secondary outcomes included positive and negative symptoms, treatment recommendations by authors, study-defined inefficacies, cognitive and depressive symptoms, discontinuation of treatment because of any cause, and inefficacies or intolerabilities. Results Of 3397 publications, 29 meta-analyses testing 42 combination strategies in 381 individual trials and among 19 833 participants were included. For total symptom reductions, 32 strategies that augmented any antipsychotic drug and 5 strategies that augmented clozapine were examined. Fourteen combination treatments outperformed controls (standard mean difference/Hedges g, −1.27 [95% CI, −2.35 to −0.19] to −0.23 [95% CI, −0.44 to −0.02]; P = .05). No combination strategies with clozapine outperformed controls. The quality of the methods of the meta-analyses was generally high (mean score, 9 of a maximum score of 11) but the quality of the meta-analyzed studies was low (mean score, 2.8 of a maximum score of 8). Treatment recommendations correlated with the effect size (correlation coefficient, 0.22; 95% CI, 0.35-0.10; P < .001), yet effect sizes were inversely correlated with study quality (correlation coefficient, −0.06; 95% CI, 0.01 to −0.12; P = .02). Conclusions and Relevance Meta-analyses of 21 interventions fully or partially recommended their use, with recommendations being positively correlated with the effect sizes of the pooled intervention. However, the effect sizes were inversely correlated with meta-analyzed study quality, reducing confidence in these recommendations. Higher-quality trials and patient-based meta-analyses are needed to determine whether subpopulations might benefit from combination treatment, as no single strategy can be recommended for patients with schizophrenia based on the current meta-analytic literature.

Impact of online resources and social media on help-seeking behaviour in youth with psychotic symptoms

The objective of the study was to explore the content of existing online resources available to information‐seeking youth as psychotic symptoms first emerge and determine how these resources may influence initiation of care.

Associations between duration of untreated psychosis and domains of positive and negative symptoms.

The duration of untreated psychosis (DUP) has been established as an independent and significant predictor of negative outcomes in first‐episode psychosis samples. Whereas literature has supported the association between DUP and severity of positive and negative symptoms, surprisingly little research to date has explored specifically what types of positive and negative symptoms are most associated with DUP.

Using Digital Media Advertising in Early Psychosis Intervention

OBJECTIVE Identifying and engaging youth with early-stage psychotic disorders in order to facilitate timely treatment initiation remains a major public health challenge. Although advertisers routinely use the Internet to directly target consumers, limited efforts have focused on applying available technology to proactively encourage help-seeking in the mental health community. This study explores how one might take advantage of Google AdWords in order to reach prospective patients with early psychosis. METHODS A landing page was developed with the primary goal of encouraging help-seeking individuals in New York City to contact their local early psychosis intervention clinic. In order to provide the best opportunity to reach the intended audience, Google AdWords was utilized to link more than 2,000 selected search terms to strategically placed landing page advertisements. The campaign ran for 14 weeks between April 11 and July 18, 2016 and had a total budget of

A Systematic Review and Taxonomy of Published Quality Criteria Related to the Evaluation of User-Facing eHealth Programs

1,427. RESULTS The ads appeared 191,313 times and were clicked on 4,350 times, at a per-click cost of

A potential role for adjunctive omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids for depression and anxiety symptoms in recent onset psychosis: Results from a 16 week randomized placebo-controlled trial for participants concurrently treated with risperidone

.33. Many users took additional help-seeking steps, including obtaining psychosis-specific information/education (44%), completing a psychosis self-screener (15%), and contacting the local early treatment program (1%). CONCLUSIONS Digital ads appear to be a reasonable and cost-effective method to reach individuals who are searching for behavioral health information online. More research is needed to better understand the many complex steps between online search inquiries and making first clinical contact.

A meta-analysis of factors associated with quality of life in first episode psychosis

The purpose of this review was to identify and classify key criteria concepts related to the evaluation of user-facing eHealth programs. In line with the PRISMA statement methodology, computer searches of relevant databases were conducted for studies published between January 1, 2000 and March 1, 2016 that contained explicit quality criteria related to mHealth and eHealth products. Reference lists of included articles, review articles, and grey literature (e.g., books, websites) were searched for additional sources. A team of nine experts led by the first author was gathered to support the classification of these criteria. Identified criteria were extracted, grouped and organized using an inductive thematic analysis. Eighty-four sources – emanating from 26 different courtiers – were included in this review. The team extracted 454 criteria that were grouped into 11 quality domains, 58 criteria concepts and 134 concepts’ sub-groups. Quality domains were: Usability, Visual Design, User Engagement, Content, Behavior Change/Persuasive Design, Influence of Social Presence, Therapeutic Alliance, Classification, Credibility/Accountability, and Privacy/Security. Findings suggest that authors around the globe agree on key criteria concepts when evaluating user-facing eHealth products. The high proportion of new published criteria in the second half of this review time-frame (2008–2016), and more specifically, the high proportion of criteria relating to persuasive design, therapeutic alliance and privacy/security within this time-frame, points to the advancements made in recent years within this field.

O9.2. IDENTIFYING PSYCHOTIC SYMPTOMS AND PREDICTING RELAPSE THROUGH SOCIAL MEDIA

Omega-3 treatment studies for multi-episode schizophrenia or clinical high risk for conversion to psychosis states have had variable, and often negative, results. To examine adjunctive omega-3 treatment for recent onset psychosis, participants aged 15-40 years with recent onset schizophrenia-spectrum (n = 46) or bipolar (n = 4) disorders and current psychotic symptoms were treated for 16 weeks with risperidone and randomly-assigned omega-3 (EPA 740 mg and DHA 400 mg daily) or matching placebo. The primary outcome measure was the Brief Psychiatric Rating Scale (BPRS) total score. Mean lifetime antipsychotic exposure was 18.1 days. Length of time in treatment, risperidone dose and number of omega-3/placebo capsules taken did not differ between conditions. Longitudinal analysis of the total BPRS score revealed a trend level (p = 0.0826) treatment effect favoring omega-3 treatment. Lorazepam was an allowed concomitant medication. Among the subgroup (N = 23) who did not receive lorazepam, the treatment effect on BPRS total scores favoring omega-3 was significant (p = 0.0406) and factor scores analyses revealed a substantial decrease in depression-anxiety with omega-3 but no change with placebo (treatment-by-time interaction, p = 0.0184). Motor side effects did not differ between conditions. Analysis of Systematic Assessment for Treatment Emergent Events assessments revealed fewer adverse events overall with omega-3 compared with placebo with the largest differences between conditions (all favoring omega-3) on confusion, anxiety, depression, irritability, and tiredness/fatigue. These results suggest that omega-3 adjuvant treatment is a potential option for depression and anxiety symptoms of people with recent onset psychosis. Further research is needed to confirm this potential. Clinical trial registration: NCT01786239.

F100. FACTOR STRUCTURE OF THE CANNABIS EXPERIENCES QUESTIONNAIRE IN A FIRST-EPISODE PSYCHOSIS SAMPLE

OBJECTIVE Improving quality of life for people with first episode psychosis is an important aspect of recovery. Our objective was to review the associative factors on quality of life in first episode psychosis. A meta-analysis was conducted on the associations between quality of life, symptom severity, and duration of untreated psychosis. METHOD Fifty-one articles were identified (published through 08/29/2016) that provided data on the relationship between quality of life and at least one other outcome measure of interest in first episode psychosis. Of those studies, 21 were included in a meta-analysis (n = 3992) of the relationship between quality of life, severity of psychosis, and duration of untreated psychosis. RESULTS Meta-analysis identified significant negative correlations between quality of life and severity of symptoms (total symptom scores: r = -0.32, p < 0.001) and quality of life and duration of untreated psychosis (r = -0.21, p < 0.001). Heinrichs quality of life scale emerged as being more sensitive to the presence of psychotic symptoms than other measures of quality of life. CONCLUSIONS Associations were found between certain disease specific variables and quality of life in first episode psychosis, highlighting the relationship between symptom presentation and quality of life and the need for early intervention. Proper assessment of quality of life is important to promote improved quality of life in patients with first episode psychosis. Future research is needed to examine the interacting effects of symptom presentation, duration of untreated psychosis, and other variables, such as neurocognition, on quality of life.