Clinically unintended medication switches and inability to prescribe preferred medications under Medicare Part D.

Medicare Part D has expanded medication access; however, there is some evidence that dually eligible psychiatric patients have experienced medication access problems. The aim of this study was to characterize medication switches and access problems for dually eligible psychiatric patients and associations with adverse events, including emergency department visits, hospitalizations, homelessness, and incarceration. Reports on 986 systematically sampled, dually eligible patients were obtained from a random sample of practicing psychiatrists.

Medicaid medication access problems and increased psychiatric hospital and emergency care.

Objectives: To quantify the extent to which Medicaid programs may incur increased psychiatric emergency department and hospital use associated with clinically unintended medication discontinuations, gaps, switches and other access problems attributed to prescription drug coverage and management.

Method: This study uses clinically detailed, physician-reported data. A total of 4866 psychiatrists in 10 states were randomly selected from the AMA Masterfile; 62% responded and 32% treated Medicaid patients and reported on 1625 systematically selected Medicaid patients.

The dimensionality of alcohol use disorders and alcohol consumption in a cross-national perspective.

Aims: To replicate the finding that there is a single dimension trait in alcohol use disorders and to test whether the usual 5+ drinks for men and 4+ drinks for women and other measures of alcohol consumption help to improve alcohol use disorder criteria in a series of diverse patients from emergency departments (EDs) in four countries.

Design: Cross-sectional surveys of patients aged 18 years and older that reflected consecutive arrival at the ED. The Composite International Diagnostic Interview Core was used to obtain a diagnosis of DSM-IV alcohol dependence and alcohol abuse; quantity and frequency of drinking and drunkenness as well as usual number of drinks consumed during the last year.

First-year Medicare Part D prescription drug benefits: medication access and continuity among dual eligible psychiatric patients.

Objective: This study provides national data on medication access and continuity problems experienced during the first year of the Medicare Part D prescription drug program, which was implemented on January 1, 2006, among a national sample of Medicare and Medicaid "dual eligible" psychiatric patients.

Method: Practice-based research methods were used to collect clinician-reported data across the full range of public and private psychiatric treatment settings. A random sample of psychiatrists was selected from the American Medical Association Physician Masterfile.

Part D and dually eligible patients with mental illness: medication access problems and use of intensive services.

Objective: This study examined the occurrence of medication access problems and use of intensive mental health services after the transition in January 2006 from Medicaid drug coverage to Medicare Part D for persons dually eligible for Medicaid and Medicare benefits.

Methods: Psychiatrists randomly selected from the American Medical Association's Physicians Masterfile reported on experiences of one systematically selected dually eligible patient (N=908) in the nine to 12 months after Part D implementation. Propensity score matching was used to compare use of psychiatric emergency department care and inpatient care between individuals who experienced a problem accessing a psychiatric medication after Part D and those who did not.

Medicaid prescription drug policies and medication access and continuity: findings from ten states.

Objectives: The aims of this study were to compare medication access problems among psychiatric patients in ten state Medicaid programs, assess adverse events associated with medication access problems, and determine whether prescription drug utilization management is associated with access problems and adverse events.

Methods: Psychiatrists from the American Medical Association's Masterfile were randomly selected (N=4,866). Sixty-two percent responded; 32% treated Medicaid patients and were randomly assigned a start day and time to report on two Medicaid patients (N=1,625 patients).

Medicare Part D prescription drug benefits and administrative burden in the care of dually eligible psychiatric patients.

Objective: With implementation of Medicare Part D, concerns were raised that patients with severe mental illness who were dually eligible for both Medicaid and Medicare benefits would be at clinical risk. In addition to concerns about medication access and continuity, there were concerns about administrative burden for physicians and their staffs. This study aimed to quantify the amount of administrative burden for psychiatrists and their staff related to Medicare Part D prescription drug plan administration in a national sample of dually eligible psychiatric patients and to identify factors associated with increased burden.

Parity and the use of out-of-network mental health benefits in the FEHB program.

Two current congressional bills mandate parity for benefits for mental disorders with benefits for medical/surgical conditions in private insurance when mental health benefits are provided; the bills differ in regard to benefit levels and access to out-of-network coverage. This study assessed clinicians' and beneficiaries' participation in managed care networks in the national capital area under the Federal Employees Health Benefits (FEHB) parity program. Approximately one-third of the clinicians studied participated in FEHB networks, and only 44 percent of FEHB patients received care from network clinicians.

ADHD and gender: are risks and sequela of ADHD the same for boys and girls?

Background: Research comparing treatment-referred boys and girls with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) has yielded equivocal results. Contradictory findings may be associated with differential referral practices or unexplored interactions of gender with ADHD subtypes.

Method: We examined possible gender differences in ADHD and its subtypes among children aged 4 to 17 in a representative community sample (N = 1896) in Puerto Rico.

ADHD correlates, comorbidity, and impairment in community and treated samples of children and adolescents.

Patterns of correlates, comorbidity and impairment associated with attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) in children and youth were examined in representative samples from the community and from treatment facilities serving medically indigent youth in Puerto Rico. Information from caretakers and youths was obtained using the Diagnostic Interview Schedule for Children, (version IV), measures of global impairment, and a battery of potential correlates. In the community (N = 1,896) and the treated samples (N = 763), 7.

Medication access and continuity: the experiences of dual-eligible psychiatric patients during the first 4 months of the Medicare prescription drug benefit.

Objective: This study attempted to systematically assess the experiences of Medicare and Medicaid "dual-eligible" psychiatric patients, including evaluating patients' access to medications and the administrative functioning of the program, during the first 4 months of the Medicare Part D prescription drug benefit.

Method: Psychiatrists (N=5,833) were randomly selected from the American Medical Association's Physicians Masterfile. After exclusion of those not practicing and with undeliverable addresses, 64% responded; 35% met study eligibility criteria of treating at least one dual-eligible patient during their last typical workweek and reported clinically detailed information on one systematically selected patient.

Developing the diagnostic and statistical manual V: what will "statistical" mean in DSM-V?

In February of 2004, the American Psychiatric Institute for Research and Education (APIRE) hosted a Launch and Methodology Conference to discuss the role statistics might play in the eventual revision of the Fourth Edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-IV) and the Ninth Edition of the International Classification of Diseases (ICD9). The conference consisted of talks on specific topics by statisticians and epidemiologists from North America and Great Britain, followed by group discussion by experts in nosology and psychopathology. We report here on the development of specific themes related to the future interaction between statisticians and nosologists in DSM-V development that arose as a result of that meeting.

Comorbidity patterns in routine psychiatric practice: is there evidence of underdetection and underdiagnosis?

Objective: The purpose of this study is to present data on the rates of diagnosis and patterns of Axis I comorbidity treated by psychiatrists in routine psychiatric practice, ascertained by practicing psychiatrists, and compare them with those ascertained through structured interview in a national sample of individuals treated in the specialty mental health sector for evidence of underdetection or underdiagnosis of comorbid disorders in routine psychiatric practice.

Methods: Data on 2117 psychiatric patients gathered by 754 psychiatrists participating in the 1997 and 1999 American Psychiatric Institute for Research and Education's Practice Research Network's Study of Psychiatric Patients and Treatments (SPPT) were analyzed, assessing psychiatrist-reported rates of Axis I disorders and comorbidities. SPPT data on patients treated by psychiatrists were compared with a clinical subset of patients in the National Comorbidity Survey who had been treated in the specialty mental health sector (SMA).

Concomitant pharmacotherapy among youths treated in routine psychiatric practice.

Objectives: The aim of this study was to assess rates and correlates of concomitant pharmacotherapy in children and adolescents treated by psychiatrists in a broad range of clinical settings.

Methods: Cross-sectional data on 392 child and adolescent patients aged 2-17 years from the 1997 and 1999 American Psychiatric Practice Research Network Study of Psychiatric Patients and Treatments were used, and weighted estimates are provided.

Results: Findings indicate that 84% of child and adolescent patients received one or more psychopharmacologic medications; 52% of patients treated with medications received concomitant pharmacotherapy (i.

The DSM-IV rates of child and adolescent disorders in Puerto Rico: prevalence, correlates, service use, and the effects of impairment.

Background: Few prevalence studies in which DSM-IV criteria were used in children in representative community samples have been reported. We present prevalence data for the child and adolescent population of Puerto Rico and examine the relation of DSM-IV diagnoses to global impairment, demographic correlates, and service use in an island-wide representative sample.

Methods: We sampled 1886 child-caretaker dyads in Puerto Rico by using a multistage sampling design.

The use of multiple informants in identifying the risk factors of depressive and disruptive disorders--are they interchangeable?

Objective: The aim of this study was to asses whether children and their parents identify the same risk factors for disruptive and depressive disorders and to analyze whether combining informant data with a rule that classifies the diagnosis as present if confirmed by at least one informant (OR rule) masks distinctive patterns identified in informant-specific analyses.

Method: Bivariate logistic regression equations were estimated using the diagnostic classification, based on DISC 2.1, as the outcome variable and informant (parent or child), characteristics of the youth (gender and age), indicators of the context of the interview (site), and family characteristics (income, parental monitoring, and adverse family environment) as predictors.

Dimensional measures of psychopathology. The probability of being classified with a psychiatric disorder using empirically derived symptom scales.

Objectives: We sought to develop a ranking scheme that assigns a probability of having one of four psychiatric disorders to children based on their scores on a symptom scale. We then estimated the impact of each scale symptom on the prevalence of the disorder in the population.

Method: Logistic regressions were specified for ADHD, ODD, depressive, and conduct disorders using all the individual symptoms in the pertinent scale as predictors.

Test-Retest Reliability of the Computerized CIDI (CIDI-Auto): Substance Abuse Modules.

This paper discusses the reliability of the Alcohol and Substance Abuse modules of the CIDI-Auto in two countries, Australia and Puerto Rico, and two languages, English and Spanish. CIDI-Auto is a computer-assisted version of the CIDI. Reliability estimates for DSM/ICD are presented at the diagnostic and symptom level.

Methodological challenges in assessing children's mental health services utilization.

This paper describes the reliability and validity of the service assessment for children and adolescents (SACA) for use among Spanish-speaking respondents. The test-retest reliability of the instrument was assessed in a randomly selected clinical sample of 146 Puerto Rican children and adolescents aged 4-17. Both parents and children were administered the SACA twice by independent interviewers over an average 12-day follow-up period.

Childhood asthma, chronic illness, and psychiatric disorders.

Asthma is a serious and vexing problem for many children and their families. Asthma, like most syndromes, has many symptoms and potential causes and effects. Studies have shown that pediatric asthma is associated with psychiatric disorders, but the specificity and temporality of these relations is not well known.

Child outpatient mental health service use: why doesn't insurance matter?

BACKGROUND: Several recent studies of child outpatient mental health service use in the US have shown that having private insurance has no effect on the propensity to use services. Some studies also find that public coverage has no beneficial effect relative to no insurance. AIMS: This study explores several potential explanations, including inadequate measurement of mental health status, bandwagon effects, unobservable heterogeneity and public sector substitution for private services, for the lack of an effect of private insurance on service use.