Sleep deprivation as a treatment for major depressive episodes: A systematic review and meta-analysis.

Sleep deprivation, alone or in combination with pharmacological treatment and as part of a chronotherapy package, is of potential use for people with major depressive episodes, however the evidence base is still conflicting. The aim of this systematic review and meta-analysis is to assess the clinical effects of sleep deprivation in comparison to any other intervention for the acute and long-term treatment of mood disorders. We searched electronic databases and trial registries (last update: 16th October 2021) for published and unpublished randomised controlled trials recruiting participants with a major depressive episode in unipolar or bipolar affective disorder.

A collaborative strategy to improve geriatric medical education.

Introduction: Age-related demographic change is not being matched by a growth in relevant undergraduate medical education, in particular communication skills pertinent to elderly patients. To address this, a workshop for medical students focusing on important communication skills techniques for interacting with patients with dementia was designed by clinicians from the Geriatric, General Practice and Psychiatry departments at the University of Oxford.

Methods: One hundred and forty-four first-year clinical students (Year 4 of the 6-year course; Year 2 of the 4-year graduate-entry course) attended the teaching.

Migrant status, age, gender and social isolation in very late-onset schizophrenia-like psychosis.

Background: Data from two retrospective first contact studies suggest that the risk of developing very-late onset schizophrenia-like psychosis (SLP) may be raised in older migrant than British-born populations resident in the UK.

Objective: To investigate whether the relative excess of SLP observed amongst younger and male migrants in the above studies might have been explained by differences in the age-gender structures of migrant and British-born denominator populations. A secondary aim was to examine the associations of migrant group status and gender with markers of social isolation.

The effect of ethnicity and gender on first-contact rates for schizophrenia-like psychosis in Bangladeshi, Black and White elders in Tower Hamlets, London.

Background: A recent study of very-late onset schizophrenia-like psychosis (SLP) in South London showed an increase in first contact rates amongst African- and Caribbean-born elders compared to British-born ones. This study investigates incident first contact rates in an area of East London with a high Bangladeshi population, to investigate if Bangladeshi-born elders also have an increased referral rate for SLP.

Method: Retrospective case note review of first contacts to the old age psychiatry service from 1997 to 2002 identifying cases of schizophrenia-like psychosis.