A 10-Year Longitudinal Study of Brain Cortical Thickness in People with First-Episode Psychosis Using Normative Models.

Background: Clinical forecasting models have potential to optimize treatment and improve outcomes in psychosis, but predicting long-term outcomes is challenging and long-term follow-up data are scarce. In this 10-year longitudinal study, we aimed to characterize the temporal evolution of cortical correlates of psychosis and their associations with symptoms.

Design: Structural magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) from people with first-episode psychosis and controls (n = 79 and 218) were obtained at enrollment, after 12 months (n = 67 and 197), and 10 years (n = 23 and 77), within the Thematically Organized Psychosis (TOP) study.

Prescriptions of psychotropic and somatic medications among patients with severe mental disorders and healthy controls in a naturalistic study.

Purpose: Psychotropic and somatic medications are both used in treating severe mental disorders (SMDs). Realistic estimates of the prevalence of use across medication categories are needed. We obtained this in a clinical cohort of patients with SMD and healthy controls (HCs).

Which factors affect job satisfaction of doctors in psychiatry?

Background: Recent reports have described challenges in retaining and recruiting psychiatrists in public mental health care. To improve the work situation for doctors, the Norwegian Psychiatric Association (NPA) conducted surveys to explore job satisfaction among its members. The purpose of this study is to explore how doctors in mental health services perceive their work, and factors affecting their job satisfaction.

Mental Distress Among Norwegian Adults During the COVID-19 Pandemic: Predictors in Initial Response and Subsequent Trajectories.

To identify factors associated with change in mental distress at the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, relative to pre-pandemic levels, and with changes during the following 1.5 years. The prospective Norwegian Mother, Father and Child Cohort Study collected eight waves of data during the pandemic (March 2020-September 2021) in 105,972 adult participants used for this analyses.

Contact with primary care physicians among adults with pre-existing common mental health problems during the COVID-19 pandemic: a registry-based study from Norway.

Background: During the COVID-19 pandemic, individuals with pre-existing mental health problems may have experienced additional stress, which could worsen symptoms or trigger relapse. Thus, this study aimed to investigate if the number of consultations with general practitioners (GPs) among individuals with a pre-existing common mental health problem during the pandemic differed from pre-pandemic years.

Methods: Data on consultations with GPs among 18-65-year-olds registered with common mental health problems in 2017-2021 were retrieved from the Norwegian Control and Payment of Health Reimbursements Database.

Incidence rates of treated mental disorders before and during the COVID-19 pandemic-a nationwide study comparing trends in the period 2015 to 2021.

Background: There is a concern that exposure to psychosocial stressors during the COVID-19 pandemic may have led to a higher incidence of mental disorders. Thus, this study aimed to compare trends in incidence rates of depressive disorder, anxiety disorders, obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), and eating disorders in primary- and specialist health care before (2015-2019) and during the COVID-19 pandemic (2020-2021).

Methods: We used aggregated population registry data to calculate incidence rates of mental disorders from primary- (The Norwegian Control and Payment of Health Reimbursements Registry (KUHR)) and specialist (The Norwegian Patient Registry (NPR)) health care.

Common genetic and environmental risk for personality disorders and psychotic-like experiences in young adult twins.

Introduction: Psychotic-like experiences (PLE) have been associated with the subsequent emergence of psychotic disorders as well as several other domains of psychopathology. In this twin study, we estimated the genetic and environmental correlations between PLE and 10 personality disorders (PD).

Methods: Diagnoses of 10 PDs according to the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-IV) and PLE from the Composite International Diagnostic Interview (CIDI) were retrieved for 2793 young adult twins from the Norwegian Twin Registry.

Psychometric Properties and Diagnostic Associations of the Short-Form Community Assessment of Psychic Experiences in a Population-Based Sample of 29 021 Adult Men.

Background And Hypothesis: Around 5%-7% of the adult population are estimated to have lifetime psychotic experiences (PEs), which are associated with psychosis risk. PEs assessed with Community Assessment of Psychic Experiences (CAPE) are associated with psychosis but also non-psychotic disorders, which could be partly explained by CAPE indirectly capturing emotional symptoms. We investigated the psychometric properties of a shorter version, CAPE-9, and whether CAPE-9 scores are associated with lifetime psychotic or non-psychotic mental disorders after controlling for current anxiety and depressive symptoms.

Mental disorder prevalence in chronic pain patients using opioid versus non-opioid analgesics: A registry-linkage study.

Background: Chronic pain and mental disorders are leading causes of disability worldwide. Individuals with chronic pain are more likely to experience mental disorders compared to individuals without chronic pain, but large-scale estimates are lacking. We aimed to calculate overall prevalence of mental health diagnoses from primary and secondary care among individuals treated for chronic pain in 2019 and to compare prevalence among chronic pain patients receiving opioid versus non-opioid analgesics, according to age and gender.

[The doctor’s role in the mental healthcare service – a qualitative study].

Background: The role of doctors is changing, and mental health care is increasingly dominated by professional groups other than doctors. In this qualitative study, we investigated how psychiatrists perceive their role and position in mental health care.

Material And Method: Seven psychiatrists were given in-depth interviews based on an interview guide.

[Long-term use of opioids and concomitant use of other habit-forming drugs].

Background: Long-term use of opioids may have undesirable consequences. We have investigated long-term opioid use in patient groups that were prescribed opioids for various indications (chronic pain, palliative care, other (white prescriptions, not generally covered by the Norwegian National Insurance Scheme)) as well as the groups' concomitant use of some other addictive medications.

Material And Method: Persons registered in the Norwegian Prescription Database with at least one filled prescription of an opioid in the period 2011-19 were included.

Educational attainment and mortality in schizophrenia.

Background: Individuals suffering from schizophrenia have a reduced life expectancy with cardiovascular disease (CVD) as a major contributor. Low educational attainment is associated with schizophrenia, as well as with all-cause and CVD mortality. However, it is unknown to what extent low educational attainment can explain the increased mortality in individuals with schizophrenia.

Total and cause-specific mortality in patients with personality disorders: the association between comorbid severe mental illness and substance use disorders.

Purpose: To investigate the mortality in both in- and outpatients with personality disorders (PD), and to explore the association between mortality and comorbid substance use disorder (SUD) or severe mental illness (SMI).

Methods: All residents admitted to Norwegian in- and outpatient specialist health care services during 2009-2015 with a PD diagnosis were included. Standardized mortality ratios (SMRs) with 95% confidence intervals (CI) were estimated in patients with PD only and in patients with PD and comorbid SMI or SUD.

Diagnostic tests and treatment procedures performed prior to cardiovascular death in individuals with severe mental illness.

Objective: To examine whether severe mental illnesses (i.e., schizophrenia or bipolar disorder) affected diagnostic testing and treatment for cardiovascular diseases in primary and specialized health care.

Undiagnosed cardiovascular disease prior to cardiovascular death in individuals with severe mental illness.

Objective: To examine whether individuals with schizophrenia (SCZ) or bipolar disorder (BD) had equal likelihood of not being diagnosed with cardiovascular disease (CVD) prior to cardiovascular death, compared to individuals without SCZ or BD.

Methods: Multivariate logistic regression analysis including nationwide data of 72 451 cardiovascular deaths in the years 2011-2016. Of these, 814 had a SCZ diagnosis and 673 a BD diagnosis in primary or specialist health care.

An association between YKL-40 and type 2 diabetes in psychotic disorders.

Objective: This study examines if YKL-40 is increased in individuals with psychotic disorders and if elevated YKL-40 levels at baseline is associated with subsequent development of type 2 diabetes.

Method: A total of 1383 patients with a diagnosis of schizophrenia or affective psychosis and 799 healthy controls were recruited in the period 2002-2015. Plasma YKL-40 and metabolic risk factors were measured and medication was recorded.

Total and cause-specific standardized mortality ratios in patients with schizophrenia and/or substance use disorder.

Individuals with schizophrenia or substance use disorder have a substantially increased mortality compared to the general population. Despite a high and probably increasing prevalence of comorbid substance use disorder in people with schizophrenia, the mortality in the comorbid group has been less studied and with contrasting results. We performed a nationwide open cohort study from 2009 to 2015, including all Norwegians aged 20-79 with schizophrenia and/or substance use disorder registered in any specialized health care setting in Norway, a total of 125,744 individuals.

Increase in diagnosis of depressive disorders contributes to the increase in antidepressant use in adolescents.

Objective: To study if the observed increase in use of antidepressants (AD) among adolescents may be explained by higher incidence of depressive disorder diagnosis, increasing treatment of other mental disorders or more liberal prescribing practice.

Methods: We used three different study populations of girls and boys aged 13-17 years in Norway: 1) individuals who were diagnosed with depressive disorders in primary health care, 2) individuals who were diagnosed with depressive disorders in secondary health care; 3) individuals who were dispensed ADs as recorded in the prescription database. Dataset 2) and 3) were linked.