Individuals with depression often do not respond to medication or psychotherapy. Radically open dialectical behaviour therapy (RO DBT) is a new treatment targeting overcontrolled personality, common in refractory depression.

To compare RO DBT plus treatment as usual (TAU) for refractory depression with TAU alone (trial registration: ISRCTN 85784627).

RO DBT comprised 29 therapy sessions and 27 skills classes over 6 months. Our completed randomised trial evaluated RO DBT for refractory depression over 18 months in three British secondary care centres. Of 250 adult participants, we randomised 162 (65%) to RO DBT. The primary outcome was the Hamilton Rating Scale for Depression (HRSD), assessed masked and analysed by treatment allocated.

After 7 months, immediately following therapy, RO DBT had significantly reduced depressive symptoms by 5.40 points on the HRSD relative to TAU (95% CI 0.94–9.85). After 12 months (primary end-point), the difference of 2.15 points on the HRSD in favour of RO DBT was not significant (95% CI –2.28 to 6.59); nor was that of 1.69 points on the HRSD at 18 months (95% CI –2.84 to 6.22). Throughout RO DBT participants reported significantly better psychological flexibility and emotional coping than controls. However, they reported eight possible serious adverse reactions compared with none in the control group.

The RO DBT group reported significantly lower HRSD scores than the control group after 7 months, but not thereafter. The imbalance in serious adverse reactions was probably because of the controls' limited opportunities to report these.

Six of the 16 authors have received royalties or fees for RO DBT. R.J.H. is co-owner and director of Radically Open Ltd, the RO DBT training and dissemination company. D.K. reports grants outside the submitted work from NIHR. T.R.L. receives royalties from New Harbinger Publishing for sales of RO DBT treatment manuals, speaking fees from Radically Open Ltd and a grant outside the submitted work from the Medical Research Council. He was codirector of Radically Open Ltd between November 2014 and May 2015 and is married to Erica Smith-Lynch, the principal shareholder and one of two current directors of Radically Open Ltd. H.O’M. reports personal fees from the Charlie Waller Institute and Improving Access to Psychological Therapy. S.C.R. provides RO DBT supervision through S C Rushbrook Ltd. I.T.R. reports grants outside the submitted work from NIHR and Health & Care Research Wales. M.St. reports personal fees from British Isles DBT Training, Stanton Psychological Services Ltd, and Taylor & Francis Ltd. M.Sw. reports personal fees from British Isles DBT Training, Guilford Press, Oxford University Press and Taylor & Francis Ltd. B.W. was codirector of Radically Open Ltd between November 2014 and February 2015.

We assessed venous thromboembolism (VTE) risk, barriers to prescribing VTE prophylaxis and completion of VTE risk assessment in psychiatric in-patients. This was a cross-sectional study conducted across three centres. We used the UK Department of Health VTE risk assessment tool which had been adapted for psychiatric patients.

Of the 470 patients assessed, 144 (30.6%) were at increased risk of VTE. Patients on old age wards were more likely to be at increased risk than those on general adult wards (odds ratio = 2.26, 95% CI 1.51–3.37). Of those at higher risk of VTE, auditors recorded concerns about prescribing prophylaxis in 70 patients (14.9%). Only 20 (4.3%) patients had a completed risk assessment.

Mental health in-patients are likely to be at increased risk of VTE. VTE risk assessment is not currently embedded in psychiatric in-patient care. There is a need for guidance specific to this population.

None.

Various transmission routes contribute to spread of carbapenem-resistant Klebsiella pneumoniae (CRKP) in hospitalized patients. Patients with readmissions during which CRKP is again isolated (“CRKP readmission”) potentially contribute to transmission of CRKP.

To evaluate CRKP readmissions in the Consortium on Resistance against Carbapenems in K. pneumoniae (CRaCKLe).

Cohort study from December 24, 2011, through July 1, 2013.

Multicenter consortium of acute care hospitals in the Great Lakes region.

All patients who were discharged alive during the study period were included. Each patient was included only once at the time of the first CRKP-positive culture.

All readmissions within 90 days of discharge from the index hospitalization during which CRKP was again found were analyzed. Risk factors for CRKP readmission were evaluated in multivariable models.

Fifty-six (20%) of 287 patients who were discharged alive had a CRKP readmission. History of malignancy was associated with CRKP readmission (adjusted odds ratio [adjusted OR], 3.00 [95% CI, 1.32–6.65], P<.01). During the index hospitalization, 160 patients (56%) received antibiotic treatment against CRKP; the choice of regimen was associated with CRKP readmission (P=.02). Receipt of tigecycline-based therapy (adjusted OR, 5.13 [95% CI, 1.72–17.44], using aminoglycoside-based therapy as a reference in those treated with anti-CRKP antibiotics) was associated with CRKP readmission.

Hospitalized patients with CRKP—specifically those with a history of malignancy—are at high risk of readmission with recurrent CRKP infection or colonization. Treatment during the index hospitalization with a tigecycline-based regimen increases this risk.

Infect. Control Hosp. Epidemiol. 2016;37(3):281–288