Ruth Blackburn

Recording of Severe Mental Illness in United Kingdom Primary Care, 2000–2010

Background There is increasing emphasis on primary care services for individuals with severe mental illnesses (SMI), including schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, and other non-organic psychotic disorders. However we lack information on how many people receive these different diagnoses in primary care. Primary care databases offer an opportunity to explore the recording of new SMI diagnoses in representative general practices. Methods We used data from The UK Health Improvement Network (THIN) primary care database including longitudinal patient records for individuals aged over 16 years from 437 general practices. We determined the annual GP recorded rate of first diagnosis of SMI by age, gender, social deprivation and urbanicity between 2000 and 2010. Results We identified 10,520 individuals with a first record of schizophrenia, bipolar disorder or other non-organic psychosis among 4,164,794 patients. This corresponded to a rate of first diagnosis of 46.4 per 100,000 person years at risk (PYAR) (95% CI 45.4 to 47.4) in the 16–65 age group. The rate of first record of schizophrenia was 9.2 per 100,000 PYAR (95% CI 8.7 to 9.6) in this age group, bipolar disorder was 15.0 per 100,000 PYAR (95% CI 14.4 to 15.5) and other non-organic psychotic disorder was 22.3 per 100,000 PYAR (95% CI 21.6 to 23.0). Conclusions The rates of GP recorded SMI in primary care records were broadly comparable to incidence rates from previous epidemiological studies of SMI and show similar patterns by socio-demographic characteristics. However there were some differences by specific diagnoses. GPs may be recording rates that are higher than those used to commission services.

Evaluating the clinical and cost effectiveness of a behaviour change intervention for lowering cardiovascular disease risk for people with severe mental illnesses in primary care (PRIMROSE study): study protocol for a cluster randomised controlled trial

BackgroundPeople with severe mental illnesses die up to 20xa0years earlier than the general population, with cardiovascular disease being the leading cause of death. National guidelines recommend that the physical care of people with severe mental illnesses should be the responsibility of primary care; however, little is known about effective interventions to lower cardiovascular disease risk in this population and setting. Following extensive peer review, funding was secured from the United Kingdom National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) to deliver the proposed study. The aim of the trial is to test the effectiveness of a behavioural intervention to lower cardiovascular disease risk in people with severe mental illnesses in United Kingdom General Practices.Methods/DesignThe study is a cluster randomised controlled trial in 70 GP practices for people with severe mental illnesses, aged 30 to 75xa0years old, with elevated cardiovascular disease risk factors. The trial will compare the effectiveness of a behavioural intervention designed to lower cardiovascular disease risk and delivered by a practice nurse or healthcare assistant, with standard care offered in General Practice. A total of 350 people will be recruited and followed up at 6 and 12xa0months. The primary outcome is total cholesterol level at the 12-month follow-up and secondary outcomes include blood pressure, body mass index, waist circumference, smoking status, quality of life, adherence to treatments and services and behavioural measures for diet, physical activity and alcohol use. An economic evaluation will be carried out to determine the cost effectiveness of the intervention compared with standard care.DiscussionThe results of this pragmatic trial will provide evidence on the clinical and cost effectiveness of the intervention on lowering total cholesterol and addressing multiple cardiovascular disease risk factors in people with severe mental illnesses in GP Practices.Trial registrationCurrent Controlled Trials ISRCTN13762819. Date of Registration: 25 February 2013.Date and Version Number: 27 August 2014 Version 5.

Clinical and cost-effectiveness of an intervention for reducing cholesterol and cardiovascular risk for people with severe mental illness in English primary care: a cluster randomised controlled trial

BACKGROUNDnPeople with severe mental illnesses, including psychosis, have an increased risk of cardiovascular disease. We aimed to evaluate the effects of a primary care intervention on decreasing total cholesterol concentrations and cardiovascular disease risk in people with severe mental illnesses.nnnMETHODSnWe did this cluster randomised trial in general practices across England, with general practices as the cluster unit. We randomly assigned general practices (1:1) with 40 or more patients with severe mental illnesses using a computer-generated random sequence with a block size of four. Researchers were masked to allocation, but patients and general practice staff were not. We included participants aged 30-75 years with severe mental illnesses (schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, or psychosis), who had raised cholesterol concentrations (5·0 mmol/L) or a total:HDL cholesterol ratio of 4·0 mmol/L or more and one or more modifiable cardiovascular disease risk factors. Eligible participants were recruited within each practice before randomisation. The Primrose intervention consisted of appointments (≤12) with a trained primary care professional involving manualised interventions for cardiovascular disease prevention (ie, adhering to statins, improving diet or physical activity levels, reducing alcohol, or quitting smoking). Treatment as usual involved feedback of screening results only. The primary outcome was total cholesterol at 12 months and the primary economic analysis outcome was health-care costs. We used intention-to-treat analysis. The trial is registered with Current Controlled Trials, number ISRCTN13762819.nnnFINDINGSnBetween Dec 10, 2013, and Sept 30, 2015, we recruited general practices and between May 9, 2014, and Feb 10, 2016, we recruited participants and randomly assigned 76 general practices with 327 participants to the Primrose intervention (n=38 with 155 patients) or treatment as usual (n=38 with 172 patients). Total cholesterol concentration data were available at 12 months for 137 (88%) participants in the Primrose intervention group and 152 (88%) participants in the treatment-as-usual group. The mean total cholesterol concentration did not differ at 12 months between the two groups (5·4 mmol/L [SD 1·1] for Primrose vs 5·5 mmol/L [1·1] for treatment as usual; mean difference estimate 0·03, 95% CI -0·22 to 0·29; p=0·788). This result was unchanged by pre-agreed supportive analyses. Mean cholesterol decreased over 12 months (-0·22 mmol/L [1·1] for Primrose vs -0·36 mmol/L [1·1] for treatment as usual). Total health-care costs (£1286 [SE 178] in the Primrose intervention group vs £2182 [328] in the treatment-as-usual group; mean difference -£895, 95% CI -1631 to -160; p=0·012) and psychiatric inpatient costs (£157 [135] vs £956 [313]; -£799, -1480 to -117; p=0·018) were lower in the Primrose intervention group than the treatment-as-usual group. Six serious adverse events of hospital admission and one death occurred in the Primrose group (n=7) and 23, including three deaths, occurred in the treatment-as-usual group (n=18).nnnINTERPRETATIONnTotal cholesterol concentration at 12 months did not differ between the Primrose and treatment-as-usual groups, possibly because of the cluster design, good care in the treatment-as-usual group, short duration of the intervention, or suboptimal focus on statin prescribing. The association between the Primrose intervention and fewer psychiatric admissions, with potential cost-effectiveness, might be important.nnnFUNDINGnNational Institute of Health Research Programme Grants for Applied Research.

Laboratory-confirmed respiratory infections as triggers for acute myocardial infarction and stroke: a self-controlled case series analysis of national linked datasets from Scotland.

While acute respiratory tract infections can trigger cardiovascular events, the differential effect of specific organisms is unknown. This is important to guide vaccine policy. Using national infection surveillance data linked to the Scottish Morbidity Record, we identified adults with a first myocardial infarction or stroke from January 1, 2004 to December 31, 2014 and a record of laboratory-confirmed respiratory infection during this period. Using self-controlled case series analysis, we generated age- and season-adjusted incidence ratios (IRs) for myocardial infarction (n=1227) or stroke (n=762) after infections compared with baseline time. We found substantially increased myocardial infarction rates in the week after Streptococcus pneumoniae and influenza virus infection: adjusted IRs for days 1–3 were 5.98 (95% CI 2.47–14.4) and 9.80 (95% CI 2.37–40.5), respectively. Rates of stroke after infection were similarly high and remained elevated to 28u2005days: day 1–3 adjusted IRs 12.3 (95% CI 5.48–27.7) and 7.82 (95% CI 1.07–56.9) for S. pneumoniae and influenza virus, respectively. Although other respiratory viruses were associated with raised point estimates for both outcomes, only the day 4–7 estimate for stroke reached statistical significance. We showed a marked cardiovascular triggering effect of S. pneumoniae and influenza virus, which highlights the need for adequate pneumococcal and influenza vaccine uptake. Further research is needed into vascular effects of noninfluenza respiratory viruses. Laboratory-confirmed respiratory infections are linked to strokes and heart attacks in a Scottish population http://ow.ly/loOh30iyq0i

Laboratory-confirmed respiratory infections as predictors of hospital admission for myocardial infarction and stroke: time-series analysis of English data for 2004-2015

We investigated population-level associations between the timing of myocardial infarction (MI) or stroke hospital admissions and laboratory-confirmed respiratory infections. Infection with human metapneumovirus, respiratory syncytial virus, influenza, rhinovirus, and adenovirus was associated with increased ischemic stroke and MI risk in the elderly.

Predictors of self and parental vaccination decisions in England during the 2009 H1N1 pandemic: Analysis of the Flu Watch pandemic cohort data

Highlights • To our knowledge, this is a first joint examination of general UK H1N1 self and parental vaccination.• Data collected during the Flu Watch study (798 adults, 85 children) were analysed.• Vaccine concerns and perceived H1N1 risk predicted self and parental vaccination.• Addressing these issues in future could influence self and parental vaccination.

Statin prescribing for people with severe mental illnesses: a staggered cohort study of 'real-world' impacts

Objectives To estimate the ‘real-world effectiveness of statins for primary prevention of cardiovascular disease (CVD) and for lipid modification in people with severe mental illnesses (SMI), including schizophrenia and bipolar disorder. Design Series of staggered cohorts. We estimated the effect of statin prescribing on CVD outcomes using a multivariable Poisson regression model or linear regression for cholesterol outcomes. Setting 587 general practice (GP) surgeries across the UK reporting data to The Health Improvement Network. Participants All permanently registered GP patients aged 40–84u2005years between 2002 and 2012 who had a diagnosis of SMI. Exclusion criteria were pre-existing CVD, statin-contraindicating conditions or a statin prescription within the 24u2005months prior to the study start. Exposure One or more statin prescriptions during a 24-month ‘baseline’ period (vs no statin prescription during the same period). Main outcome measures The primary outcome was combined first myocardial infarction and stroke. All-cause mortality and total cholesterol concentration were secondary outcomes. Results We identified 2944 statin users and 42u2005886 statin non-users across the staggered cohorts. Statin prescribing was not associated with significant reduction in CVD events (incident rate ratio 0.89; 95% CI 0.68 to 1.15) or all-cause mortality (0.89; 95% CI 0.78 to 1.02). Statin prescribing was, however, associated with statistically significant reductions in total cholesterol of 1.2u2005mmol/L (95% CI 1.1 to 1.3) for up to 2u2005years after adjusting for differences in baseline characteristics. On average, total cholesterol decreased from 6.3 to 4.6 in statin users and 5.4 to 5.3u2005mmol/L in non-users. Conclusions We found that statin prescribing to people with SMI in UK primary care was effective for lipid modification but not CVD events. The latter finding may reflect insufficient power to detect a smaller effect size than that observed in randomised controlled trials of statins in people without SMI.

Effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of a cardiovascular risk prediction algorithm for people with severe mental illness

Introduction Cardiovascular risk prediction tools are important for cardiovascular disease (CVD) prevention, however, which algorithms are appropriate for people with severe mental illness (SMI) is unclear. Objectives/aims To determine the cost-effectiveness using the net monetary benefit (NMB) approach of two bespoke SMI-specific risk algorithms compared to standard risk algorithms for primary CVD prevention in those with SMI, from an NHS perspective. Methods A microsimulation model was populated with 1000xa0individuals with SMI from The Health Improvement Network Database, aged 30–74xa0years without CVD. Four cardiovascular risk algorithms were assessed; (1) general population lipid, (2) general population BMI, (3) SMI-specific lipid and (4) SMI-specific BMI, compared against no algorithm. At baseline, each cardiovascular risk algorithm was applied and those high-risk (>xa010%) were assumed to be prescribed statin therapy, others received usual care. Individuals entered the model in a ‘healthy’ free of CVD health state and with each year could retain their current health state, have cardiovascular events (non-fatal/fatal) or die from other causes according to transition probabilities. Results The SMI-specific BMI and general population lipid algorithms had the highest NMB of the four algorithms resulting in 12xa0additional QALYs and a cost saving of approximately £37,000 (US

Respiratory infections as vascular triggers: self-controlled case series analysis of linked Scottish data

xa058,000) per 1000xa0patients with SMI over 10xa0years. Conclusions The general population lipid and SMI-specific BMI algorithms performed equally well. The ease and acceptability of use of a SMI-specific BMI algorithm (blood tests not required) makes it an attractive algorithm to implement in clinical settings.

Outcomes of specialist discharge coordination and intermediate care schemes for patients who are homeless: analysis protocol for a population-based historical cohort.

Abstract Background Infections can trigger acute vascular events but the differential effect of specific respiratory pathogens is unknown. We aimed to quantify the association between laboratory-confirmed respiratory bacterial or viral infections and first myocardial infarction or stroke to inform intervention development and targeting. Methods Scottish Morbidity Record data on first myocardial infarction or stroke (International Classification of Diseases, 10th revision, codes) were linked to records of Streptococcus pneumoniae , influenza, rhinovirus, parainfluenza, respiratory syncytial virus, or human metapneumovirus from the Electronic Communication of Surveillance in Scotland (National Services Scotland) dataset on individuals aged 40 years or older from Jan 1, 2004, to Dec 31, 2014. We analysed incidence ratios for myocardial infarction or stroke in the 28 days after infection compared with baseline using self-controlled case series. Findings There were 1227 individuals with myocardial infarction (751 men [61%]) and 762 with stroke (392 men [51%]). Median age was 68 years (IQR 59–77). The relative incidence of myocardial infarction was markedly raised in the first 1–3 days after both bacterial and viral infections (incidence ratio 5·98, 95% CI 2·47–14·4 [p Interpretation Our findings suggest that respiratory bacterial and viral infections act as vascular triggers. For stroke, the incidence ratio remained elevated a month after the date of respiratory sampling but for myocardial infarction the raised incidence ratio appeared to be more transient, suggesting potentially different mechanisms. This study highlights the need to ensure adequate uptake of influenza and pneumococcal vaccines as well as appropriate treatment during infections to reduce vascular risk. Funding Academy of Medical Sciences.