"Comparative mental health policy: Are there lessons to be learned?"
By Steve Lurie of the Canadian Mental Health Association, Toronto Branch, Toronto, Ontario, Canada. This article was published in the International Review of Psychiatry, published by Routledge, part of the Taylor and Francis Group, in their volume 17, number 2 / April 2005 and through whose courtesy IIMHL members will be able to review the article free of charge for the month of July.
The article can be accessed by clicking either here or here. IIMHL wishes to thank the Taylor and Francis Group and gratefully acknowledge their making this review available. IIMHL members wishing to further review the Taylor and Francis website and / or review other articles should click here.
Wednesday, July 20, 2005
Good patient-physician relationship important for treatment adherence Psychiatry Matters article - "The quality of the relationship that a patient with schizophrenia forms with their physician appears to be an important determinant of their attitude toward treatment and the likelihood that they will adhere to medication, UK study findings show. ... Noting that nonadherence to antipsychotic medication is a major cause of psychotic relapse and is strongly influenced by attitudes toward treatment, the researchers explored potential clinical variables that may impact such attitudes. Measures including symptoms, insight, drug adverse effects, self-reported adherence, attitudes toward treatment, perceived relationship with the prescriber, ward atmosphere, and admission experience were assessed in 228 patients with schizophrenia or schizoaffective disorder."
Efficacy of antidepressants in adults British Medical Journal article - "The National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) recently recommended that antidepressants, in particular selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors, should be first line treatment for moderate or severe depression.1 This conclusion has broadly been accepted as valid.2 The message is essentially the same as that of the Defeat Depression Campaign in the early 1990s, which probably contributed to the 253% rise in antidepressant prescribing in 10 years. From our involvement in commenting on the evidence base for the guideline we believe these recommendations ignore NICE data. The continuing concern that selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors may increase the risk of suicidal behaviour means there needs to be further consideration of evidence for the efficacy of antidepressants in adults as there has been in children." See also
Antidepressant Efficacy May Be Overblown, Investigators Say, a
Reuters Health story at
Medscape that includes interviews with the study's authors. [Viewing
Medscape resources requires registration, which is free].
Psychiatric Illness May Affect Data on `Healthy' Subjects Psychiatric News story - "Some people who volunteer to be 'healthy' controls in psychiatric or other medical research may have personality disorders. Most such volunteers, however, are not screened for Axis II disorders before the study begins. One of the hallmarks of medical research, including psychiatric studies, is the use of 'healthy control' subjects against which a population of interest is compared. Yet it looks as though a large number of persons who volunteer to serve as control subjects have personality disorders, a new study suggests. The study was conducted by Emil Coccaro, M.D., chair of psychiatry at the University of Chicago, and colleagues. Results appear in the July
Journal of Psychiatric Research."
Governors Seek Escape Route From Medicaid Funding Crisis Psychiatric News story - "Governors want more flexibility to decide who gets what in terms of Medicaid benefits and lower costs for prescription drugs. In testimony presented on Capitol Hill last month, the National Governors Association (NGA) offered a plan to reform the Medicaid program that seems to contain something to please and to offend nearly everyone. NGA Chair Mark Warner (D), governor of Virginia, and Vice Chair Mike Huckabee (R), governor of Arkansas, presented a bipartisan proposal that aims to restrain expenditures and provide governors more flexibility to administer the program. The NGA noted in written testimony that it is 'difficult to overstate the impact of Medicaid on state budgets.' On average, Medicaid accounts for about 22 percent of a state's budget and is the largest single item of expenditure."
Genomics Promises Revolution In Psychiatric Treatment Psychiatric News story - "The challenge today is making the leap between genomic variation and behavioral or functional variation at the level of individuals. Breakneck advances in genomics promise to usher in an era of "individualized medicine" based on a thorough understanding of the molecular pathophysiology of mental illness. So said Thomas Insel, M.D., director of the National Institute of Mental Health, in the Judd Marmor Award Lecture at APA's 2005 annual meeting in May in Atlanta. Insel sketched a portrait of a not-too-distant future when clinicians will treat precise targets along a pathophysiological chain from genes to cells to distributive systems within the brain based on a patient's unique genetic variation."
Copyright 2003 © Bill Davis.
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