A domains-based taxonomy of supported accommodation for people with severe and persistent mental illness.

Purpose: A lack of definitional clarity in supported accommodation and the absence of a widely accepted system for classifying supported accommodation models creates barriers to service planning and evaluation.

Methods: We undertook a systematic review of existing supported accommodation classification systems. Using a structured system for qualitative data analysis, we reviewed the stratification features in these classification systems, identified the key elements of supported accommodation and arranged them into domains and dimensions to create a new taxonomy.

Twice versus thrice weekly ECT in a clinical population: an evaluation of patient outcomes.

Increasing demand on electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) services led to a recommendation that low risk patients be considered for twice weekly ECT rather than the usual thrice weekly. We evaluated whether practice changed and compared patient clinical outcomes for twice and thrice weekly ECT. Medical records for all patients receiving ECT in the 2-year study period (1/9/08 to 30/8/10) were reviewed to determine ECT protocol, diagnosis, admission duration and readmission rates.

Planning estimates for the mental health community support sector.

Objective: To describe the approach undertaken to derive planning estimates for the mental health community support sector in Queensland, Australia.

Methods: We quantified the needs for services by calculating the prevalence of mental illness in Queensland and by stratifying mental illness by severity. A taxonomy of services in the mental health community support sector was developed and target groups for services identified.

Mental health of young adult patients who do not attend appointments in primary care: a retrospective cohort study.

Objective: The objective is to examine the relation between young adults' non-attendance at primary care appointments and mental health problems, using a retrospective cohort study, in a urban primary health care facility in a relatively deprived and ethnically diverse area of Oxford, England.

Methods: Two hundred and nine patients aged between 15 and 35 years who failed to attend a doctor's appointment in primary care during 2008 each matched with two control patients of the same age and gender who had attended appointments during the same period. Main outcome measure is the presentation with a mental health problem within 12 months following the missed appointment.

ECT efficacy and treatment course: a systematic review and meta-analysis of twice vs thrice weekly schedules.

Background: Electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) guidelines, across various regulatory bodies, lack consensus as to the optimal frequency of treatment for individual patients. Some authors postulate that twice weekly ECT may have a similar efficacy to thrice weekly, and may have a lower risk of adverse cognitive outcomes. We did a systematic review and a meta-analysis to assess the strength of associations between ECT frequency and depression scores, duration of treatment, number of ECTs, and remission rates.

Correlates of antidepressant and anxiolytic, hypnotic or sedative medication use in an Australian community sample.

Objective: To explore the rates and correlates of antidepressant (AD) and anxiolytic, hypnotic or sedative (AHS) medication use in Australia, and describe possible reasons for their use.

Method: Analysis of data from the 2007 National Survey of Mental Health and Wellbeing, a nationally representative household survey of 8841 Australians aged 16 to 85 years. Two primary outcome variables: (i) use of any AD medication; and (ii) use of any AHS medication, in the past 2 weeks.

Australian national trends in stimulant dispensing: 2002-2009.

Objective: Internationally there has been an increase in the prescriptions of stimulant medication. The aim of this study was to examine longitudinal national trends of stimulant dispensing in Australia between 2002 and 2009.

Method: Government databases were retrospectively reviewed for all dispensed stimulant prescriptions between 2002 and 2009.

A partnership evaluation: public mental health and dental services.

Objective: This study evaluates the partnership between a mental health service and a public dental hospital in providing timely and efficient access to dentistry to patients with a mental illness. In addition, the factors that contributed to the sustainability of the partnership were examined.

Method: The partnership was appraised using a survey-based evaluation with 20 patients, 43 community mental health staff and 14 dental staff, and focus groups with mental health and dental staff.

Cost-effectiveness of improved primary care treatment of depression in women in Chile.

Background: Low- and middle-income countries lack information on contextualised mental health interventions to aid resource allocation decisions regarding healthcare.

Aims: To undertake a cost-effectiveness analysis of treatments for depression contextualised to Chile.

Methods: Using data from studies in Chile, we developed a computer-based Markov cohort model of depression among Chilean women to evaluate the cost-effectiveness of usual care or improved stepped care.

Patterns of antipsychotic medication use in Australia 2002-2007.

Objective: Atypical antipsychotic medications that are primarily used to treat schizophrenia and bipolar disorder cost the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme (PBS) AUD$334.4m in 2007. There are indications that they have also been used outside the approved indications to treat behavioural disturbances in the elderly.

Anxiolytic, hypnotic and sedative medication use in Australia.

Purpose: New sedative drugs have been marketed in Australia in the last few years. We examined the trends in the prescribing of subsidised anxiolytic, hypnotic and sedative (AHS) medication use in the Australian population from 2002 to 2007.

Methods: We analysed the Medicare Australia and Drug Utilisation Sub-Committee databases for AHS script data from 2002 to 2007 by source, class of prescriber, gender and 5-year age groups.

Comparison of assertive community treatment programs in urban Massachusetts and rural North Carolina.

In this pilot study, we compared teams in rural North Carolina (NC) and urban Massachusetts (MA) to examine the how sites vary the implementation of the Assertive Community Treatment (ACT) model to respond to state and local circumstances. We analysed and compared data on: client characteristics using the NC-TOPPS and a modified survey in MA; Regional Demographics and; Team Characteristics. Issues such as driving distances, lack of qualified clinical staff, scarcity of physicians, and more limited oversight created impediments to fidelity in rural NC, despite higher per patient funding.

Cost-effectiveness of group psychotherapy for depression in Uganda.

Background: Low and middle-income countries are increasingly acknowledging the potential health and economic benefits associated with treatment of depression. To aid countries in making resource-allocation decisions, there is a need for cost-effectiveness analysis of treatments for depression in developing countries. Although there are a limited number of studies from developing countries that report data on treatment efficacy and costs, these data can be leveraged to tailor mathematical models that are used to evaluate the cost-effectiveness of depression treatments in specific settings.