Understanding psychosis complexity through a syndemic framework: A systematic review.

Psychotic conditions pose significant challenges due to their complex aetiology and impact on individuals and communities. Syndemic theory offers a promising framework to understand the interconnectedness of various health and social problems in the context of psychosis. This systematic review aims to examine existing literature on testing whether psychosis is better understood as a component of a syndemic.

Ethnic inequality, multimorbidity and psychosis: can a syndemic framework resolve disputed evidence?

Syndemic theory is described as population-level clustering or co-occurrence of health conditions in the context of shared aetiologies that interact and can act synergistically. These influences appear to act within specific places of high disadvantage. We suggest ethnic inequality in experiences and outcomes of multimorbidity, including psychosis, may be explained through a syndemic framework.

Ethnic inequalities in involuntary admission under the Mental Health Act: an exploration of mediation effects of clinical care prior to the first admission.

Background: Studies show ethnic inequalities in rates of involuntary admission and types of clinical care (such as psychological therapies). However, few studies have investigated if there is a relationship between clinical care practices and ethnic inequalities in involuntary admission.

Aims: This study investigated the impact of ethnicity and clinical care on involuntary admission and the potential mediation effects of prior clinical care.

Ethnic inequalities in clozapine use among people with treatment-resistant schizophrenia: a retrospective cohort study using data from electronic clinical records.

Purpose: Clozapine is the most effective intervention for treatment-resistant schizophrenia (TRS). Several studies report ethnic disparities in clozapine treatment. However, few studies restrict analyses to TRS cohorts alone or address confounding by benign ethnic neutropenia.

COVID-related hospitalization, intensive care treatment, and all-cause mortality in patients with psychosis and treated with clozapine.

Clozapine, an antipsychotic, is associated with increased susceptibility to infection with COVID-19, compared to other antipsychotics. Here, we investigate associations between clozapine treatment and increased risk of adverse outcomes of COVID-19, namely COVID-related hospitalisation, intensive care treatment, and death, amongst patients taking antipsychotics with schizophrenia-spectrum disorders. Using the clinical records of South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust, we identified 157 individuals who had an ICD-10 diagnosis of schizophrenia-spectrum disorders, were taking antipsychotics (clozapine or other antipsychotics) at the time of COVID-19 pandemic in the UK and had a laboratory-confirmed COVID-19 infection.

Gender disparities in clozapine prescription in a cohort of treatment-resistant schizophrenia in the South London and Maudsley case register.

Background: Gender disparities in treatment are apparent across many areas of healthcare. There has been little research into whether clozapine prescription, the first-line treatment for treatment-resistant schizophrenia (TRS), is affected by patient gender.

Methods: This retrospective cohort study identified 2244 patients with TRS within the South London and Maudsley NHS Trust, by using a bespoke method validated against a gold-standard, manually coded, dataset of TRS cases.

Resilience in the face of peer victimisation and discrimination: The who, when and why in five patterns of adjustment.

Victimisation has a negative effect on psychosocial functioning. Based on the resilience theory, and with a sample of 2975 Portuguese students, the present study aims to: i) identify patterns of adjustment in the face of peer victimisation and perceptions of discrimination; ii) explore the association between the patterns of adjustment and the characteristics of participants (the who) and of the victimisation (the when and why). Cluster analysis revealed five patterns of adjustment: Unchallenged; Externally Maladjusted; Internally Maladjusted; Resilient, and At-Risk.