Established treatments for obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD) include cognitive behaviour therapy (CBT) and selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor (SSRI) medication. Combined treatment may outperform monotherapy, but few studies have investigated this. A total of 49 community-based adults with OCD were randomly assigned to CBT, SSRI, or SSRI+CBT. Sertraline (50–200 mg/day) was given as the SSRI for 52 weeks. A 16-h-manualized individual CBT was delivered over 8 weeks with four follow-up sessions. Assessors were ‘blinded’ to treatment allocation. A preliminary health economic evaluation was conducted. At week 16, combined treatment (n=13) was associated with the largest improvement, sertraline (n=7) the next largest and CBT (n=9) the smallest on the observed case analysis. The effect size (Cohen’s d) comparing the improvement in Yale Brown Obsessive Compulsive Scale on CBT versus combined treatment was −0.39 and versus sertraline was −0.27. Between 16 and 52 weeks, the greatest clinical improvement was seen with sertraline, but participant discontinuation prevented reliable analysis. Compared with sertraline, the mean costs were higher for CBT and for combined treatment. The mean Quality Adjusted Life Year scores for sertraline were 0.1823 (95% confidence interval: 0.0447–0.3199) greater than for CBT and 0.1135 (95% confidence interval: ‑0.0290–0.2560), greater than for combined treatment. Combined treatment appeared the most clinically effective option, especially over CBT, but the advantages over SSRI monotherapy were not sustained beyond 16 weeks. SSRI monotherapy was the most cost-effective. A definitive study can and should be conducted.
AimsWhilst patient psychiatric health is the primary focus in the acute psychiatric inpatient setting, there has been a recent focus on ensuring a greater integration with physical health to address the physical health outcome inequalities between patients with psychiatric conditions and those without. Despite the ward having a robust physical health clerking proforma, there were issues with its completion; at initial clerking patients often aren't able, or refuse, to consent to physical examination or investigations. This lead to the trust's electronic physical health form, designed to collate these results, not always being completed. Our aim was to increase the rates of completion.MethodChanges to ward handover sheets were made in an effort to increase rates of physical health form completion and improve 24 and 72 hour completion rates. Columns were added delineating which parts of the physical clerking were outstanding, ensuring the MDT were aware of which jobs needed actioning. Data for two months prior and post intervention were analysed.Result266 admissions were analysed for the two months prior and post the intervention. Form completion rose from July (88%) to October (100%), with 24 and 72 hour completion rate increasing from 47% & 55% respectively, to 84% & 96%, during the same time period. Greater completion rates of physical health forms led to increased knowledge of patients’ physical health issues. Having 96% of patients physical health issues within three days of admission (cf. 55%, July), led to a 'physical health huddle' being held during the MDT. This provided a platform to discuss relevant physical health treatment plans with the whole team. These findings were summarised under a new column on the handover sheet and updated biweekly during the MDT meeting. Placement on the handover sheet ensured daily visibility to all staff.ConclusionSimple structural changes can bring physical health to the fore in psychiatric care. Timely and more complete physical health data enabled biweekly reviews of physical health issues and allowed input across the MDT. Increased knowledge and awareness of physical health issues led to an increase in medical review requests. These are currently performed on an ad hoc basis, which can be quite disorganised and inefficient. The results above, of improved physical health outcomes based on a structured approach, have led to a recommendation of a biweekly physical health clinic, with specific staffing allocation, to ensure a more thorough and efficient way to address physical health.
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