No abstract

Oculogyric crisis (OGC) is an often recurrent dystonic adverse effect of antipsychotic treatment characterized by a sustained fixed upward gaze lasting minutes to hours. The risk of OGC has not been established. We prospectively estimated the incidence rate of OGC in an early intervention service for psychosis and provided details regarding the antipsychotics implicated, clinical presentation, and long-term outcomes of OGC. The Nova Scotia Early Psychosis Program provides comprehensive, team-based care to youth and young adults with schizophrenia spectrum disorder. For 6 years (April 2008 to March 2014), 452 new patients were admitted to the program and participated in an individualized program of care. Eight patients (4 females; mean age, 19.8 years) developed recurrent episodes of OGC after 3 months to 2 years of treatment with 1 or more second-generation antipsychotics, yielding an incidence rate of 1.8% (95% confidence interval, 0.9%-3.4%). Risperidone or olanzapine (alone or in combination with a second antipsychotic) seemed causative in each case. Also implicated in the onset or recurrence of oculogyric episodes were ziprasidone, quetiapine, clozapine, aripiprazole, and the first-generation antipsychotic loxapine. Follow-up ranged between 2 and 7 years. Episodes stopped after switching antipsychotic treatment in 4 cases and after stopping antipsychotic treatment in 2 cases. In the other 2 cases, recurrences were ongoing at last follow-up 2 and 6 years after onset with antipsychotic treatment continuing. We observed a high rate of tardive-onset, recurrent, and potentially chronic ocular dystonias in patients with first-episode psychosis caused by the use of second-generation antipsychotics.

Objective: Cannabis use in people with early phase psychosis (EPP) can have a significant impact on long-term outcomes. The purpose of this investigation was to describe current cannabis use treatment practices in English-speaking early intervention services (EISs) in Canada and determine if their services are informed by available evidence. Method: Thirty-five Canadian English-speaking EISs for psychosis were approached to complete a survey through email, facsimile, or online in order to collect information regarding their current cannabis use treatment practices. Results: Data were acquired from 27 of the 35 (78%) programs approached. Only 12% of EISs offered formal services that targeted cannabis use, whereas the majority (63%) of EISs offered informal services for all substance use, not specifically cannabis. In programs with informal services, individual patient psychoeducation (86%) was slightly more common than individual motivational interviewing (MI) (76%) followed by group patient psychoeducation (52%) and information handouts (52%). Thirty-seven percent of EISs offered formal services for substance use, and compared to programs with informal services, more MI, cognitive-behavioural therapy, and family services were offered, with individual treatment modalities more common than groups. No EISs used contingency management, even though it has some preliminary evidence in chronic populations. Evidence-based service implementation barriers included appropriate training and administrative support. Conclusions: While most English-speaking Canadian EIS programs offer individual MI and psychoeducation, which is in line with the available literature, there is room for improvement in cannabis treatment services based on current evidence for both people with EPP and their families. Abré gé Objectif : L'utilisation du cannabis chez les personnes en phase précoce de psychose (PPP) peut avoir un effet significatif sur les résultats à long terme. Le but de cette recherche était de décrire les pratiques actuelles de traitement de l'utilisation du cannabis dans les services d'intervention précoce (SIP) anglophones du Canada et de déterminer si leurs services sont éclairés par les données probantes disponibles.

Background Within outpatient mental health services there exists an important awareness of the difficulties in engaging and maintaining contact with patients, as well as the understanding of the negative effects of disengagement, including worse patient outcomes and increased healthcare burden. Despite the importance of engagement on service delivery and recovery outcomes, few studies have examined rates and predictors of engagement in the early phase psychosis population. Although better than community care, it has been reported that an average of 30% of patients disengage from specialized early intervention services for psychosis (EIS). We examined rates of disengagement to a 5 year EIS for psychosis, including potential individual risk factors for disengagement at entry to service. Methods This cross-sectional cohort study examined engagement to services to a single EIS site from November 2006 to November 2016. Disengagement was determined retrospectively on review of medical records, defined as not attending to clinic services despite repeated attempts by clinicians/clinic for a three month time frame. Gender, age at clinic entry, ethnicity, Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale (PANSS), Drug Attitude Inventory (DAI-30), General Assessment of Function (GAF), Social and Occupational Functioning Assessment Scale (SOFAS), WHO-ASSIST version 3.0, and the Psychological General Well Being (PGWB)scale at entry to service were examined between groups. . Descriptive statistical and survival analyses for time to disengagement were conducted on the patient data set. Results 331 patient records were complete (with above scales) from entry to service to discharge or loss to follow-up. Patients were found to fall into 3 categories with regard to patterns of engagement. The first category we named “engagers” as they remained committed to their care throughout the program and comprised 50% of the sample. The second group were labeled the disengagers (20% of the group) and these were individuals who disengaged at some point in the program and did not return, in contrast to “intermittent engagers“ who comprised 30% of the sample. Intermittent engagers were patients who at some point during their care would meet criteria for disengagement but would re-engage later (still within the 5 years from entry to EIS) and complete the program. Absolute disengagement by the disengager group was predominantly prior to 12 months of treatment (78% of the group) with a survival analysis showing a median time to absolute disengagement of 8 months. The 3 groups though defined based on their engagement status, did not significantly differ in age, gender and ethnicity. Additionally, the clinician reported scores GAF and SOFAS did not differ between the groups. Patterns of substance use differed between the groups. There was a trend toward higher tobacco use in the two groups showing disengagement. Cannabis use did not differ significantly between groups but the pattern of use was highest in the disengagers followed by the engagers and then intermittent engagers. Alcohol use was significantly different between the groups with 81% of the disengagers having problem levels of alcohol use (WHO ASSIST v. 3.0 score above 4), however, there was no correlation between alcohol score and time to disengagement. Discussion Our retrospective study found a surprisingly large portion of the patient population will wax and wane in their commitment to health services but ultimately maintain attendance to complete the program, suggesting that patients should not be discharged early from EIS for psychosis. Substance use patterns and functional measures may identify patients who are at risk of early disengagement from EIS.