Pain, fatigue and anxiety are common features of fibromyalgia and ME/CFS and significantly impact quality of life. Aetiology is poorly defined but dysfunctional inflammatory, autonomic and interoceptive (sensing of internal bodily signals) processes are implicated.

To investigate how altered interoception relates to baseline expression of pain, fatigue and anxiety symptoms in fibromyalgia and ME/CFS and in response to an inflammatory challenge.

Sixty-five patients with fibromyalgia and/or ME/CFS diagnosis and 26 matched controls underwent baseline assessment: pressure-pain thresholds and self-report questionnaires assessing pain, fatigue and anxiety severity. Participants received injections of typhoid (inflammatory challenge) or saline (placebo) in a randomised, double-blind, crossover design, before completing heartbeat tracking tasks. Three interoception dimensions were examined: subjective sensibility, objective accuracy and metacognitive awareness. Interoceptive trait prediction error was calculated as discrepancy between accuracy and sensibility.

Patients with fibromyalgia and ME/CFS had significantly higher interoceptive sensibility and trait prediction error, despite no differences in interoceptive accuracy. Interoceptive sensibility and trait prediction error correlated with all self-report pain, fatigue and anxiety measures, and with lower pain thresholds. Anxiety mediated the positive-predictive relationships between pain (Visual Analogue Scale and Widespread Pain Index), fatigue impact and interoceptive sensibility. After inflammatory challenge, metacognitive awareness correlated with baseline self-reported symptom measures and lower pain thresholds.

This is the first study investigating interoceptive dimensions in patients with fibromyalgia and ME/CFS, which were found to be dysregulated and differentially influenced by inflammatory mechanisms. Interoceptive processes may represent a new potential target for diagnostic and therapeutic investigation in these poorly understood conditions.

No significant relationships.

Anticholinergic medications block cholinergic transmission. The central effects of anticholinergic drugs can be particularly marked in patients with dementia. Furthermore, anticholinergics antagonise the effects of cholinesterase inhibitors, the main dementia treatment.

This study aimed to assess anticholinergic drug prescribing among dementia patients before and after admission to UK acute hospitals.

352 patients with dementia were included from 17 hospitals in the UK. All were admitted to surgical, medical or Care of the Elderly wards in 2019. Information about patients’ prescriptions were recorded on a standardised form. An evidence-based online calculator was used to calculate the anticholinergic drug burden of each patient. The correlation between two subgroups upon admission and discharge was tested with Spearman’s Rank Correlation.

Table 1 shows patient demographics. On admission, 37.8% of patients had an anticholinergic burden score ≥1 and 5.68% ≥3. At discharge, 43.2% of patients had an anticholinergic burden score ≥1 and 9.1% ≥3. The increase was statistically significant (rho 0.688; p=2.2x10-16). The most common group of anticholinergic medications prescribed at discharge were psychotropics (see Figure 1). Among patients prescribed cholinesterase inhibitors, 44.9% were also taking anticholinergic medications.

This multicentre cross-sectional study found that people with dementia are frequently prescribed anticholinergic drugs, even if also taking cholinesterase inhibitors, and are significantly more likely to be discharged with a higher anticholinergic drug burden than on admission to hospital.

This project was planned and executed by the authors on behalf of SPARC (Student Psychiatry Audit and Research Collaborative). We thank the National Student Association of Medical Research for allowing us use of the Enketo platform. Judith Harrison was su

Coronavirus disease 2019 imposed dramatic changes on ENT service delivery. Pre-pandemic, such changes would have been considered potentially unsafe. This study outlines the impact of lockdown on the incidence and management of ENT emergencies at a large UK centre.

After modification of pre-pandemic guidelines, ENT emergency referrals data during the UK lockdown were prospectively captured. A comparative analysis was performed with retrospective data from a corresponding period in 2019.

An overall reduction (p < 0.001) in emergency referrals (n = 119) and admissions (n = 18) occurred during the lockdown period compared to the 2019 period (432 referrals and 290 admissions). Specifically, there were reduced admission rates for epistaxis (p < 0.0001) and tonsillar infection (p < 0.005) in the lockdown period. During lockdown, 90 per cent of patients requiring non-dissolvable nasal packing were managed as out-patients.

Coronavirus disease 2019 compelled modifications to pre-pandemic ENT guidelines. The enforced changes to emergency care appear to be safe and successfully adopted. Arguably, the measures have both economic and patient-related implications post-coronavirus disease 2019 and during future similar pandemics and lockdowns.

The utility of questionnaire based self-report measures for non-clinical psychotic symptoms is unclear and there are few reliable data about the nature and prevalence of these phenomena in children. The study aimed to investigate psychosis-like symptoms (PLIKS) in children utilizing both self-report measures and semi-structured observer rated assessments.

The study was cross-sectional; the setting being an assessment clinic for members of the ALSPAC birth cohort in Bristol, UK. 6455 respondents were assessed over 21 months, mean age 12.9 years. The main outcome measure was: 12 self-report screening questions for psychotic symptoms followed by semi-structured observer rated assessments by trained psychology graduates. The assessment instrument utilised stem questions, glossary definitions, and rating rules adapted from DISC-IV and SCAN items.

The 6-month period prevalence for one or more PLIKS rated by self-report questions was 38.9 % (95% CI = 37.7-40.1). Prevalence using observer rated assessments was 13.7% (95% CI = 12.8-14.5). Positive Predictive Values for the screen questions versus observer rated scores were low, except for auditory hallucinations (PPV=70%; 95% CI = 67.1-74.2). The most frequent observer rated symptom was auditory hallucinations (7.3%); in 18.8% of these cases symptoms occurred weekly or more. The prevalence of DSM-IV ‘core’ schizophrenia symptoms was 3.62%. Rates were significantly higher in children with low socio-economic status.

With the exception of auditory hallucinations, self-rated questionnaires are likely to substantially over-estimate the frequency of PLIKS in 12-year-old children. However, more reliable observer rated assessments reveal that PLIKS occur in a significant proportion of children.

Venous thromboembolism (VTE) is a potentially fatal condition. Hospital-associated VTE leads to more than 25,000 deaths per year in the UK. Therefore identification of at-risk patients is crucial. Psychiatric in-patients have unique factors which may affect their risk of VTE (antipsychotic prescription, restraint) however there are currently no UK guidelines which specifically address VTE risk in this population.

We assessed VTE risk among psychiatric inpatients in Cardiff and Vale university health board, Wales, UK, and whether proformas currently provided for VTE risk assessment were being completed.

All acute adult in-patient and old age psychiatric wards were assessed by a team of medical students and a junior doctor over three days. We used the UK department of health VTE risk assessment tool which was adapted to include factors specific for psychiatric patients. We also assessed if there were concerns about prescribing VTE prophylaxis (compression stockings or anticoagulants), because of a history of self-harm or ligature use.

Of the 145 patients included, 0% had a completed VTE risk assessment form. We found 38.6% to be at an increased risk of VTE and there were concerns about prescribing VTE prophylaxis in 31% of patients.

Our findings suggest that VTE risk assessment is not being carried out on psychiatric wards. Staff education is needed to improve awareness of VTE. Specific guidance for this population is needed due to the presence of unique risk factors in psychiatric in-patients and concerns regarding VTE prophylaxis.

The authors have not supplied their declaration of competing interest.

Cognitive dysfunction is an important aspect of depression that includes problems with thinking, concentration and memory. Research suggests that the cognitive aspect of depression is highly prevalent and has a significant impact on patient functioning. Currently, cognitive dysfunction in depression is largely unrecognised, unmonitored and untreated.

We aim to define cognitive dysfunction in clinical depression (major depressive disorder) and explore its detection and management in the UK, highlighting priority areas to be addressed.

A modified Delphi method was used as the process to gain consensus. A multi-stakeholder steering committee of depression experts (including psychiatrists, psychologists, primary care physicians, and representatives from occupational therapy and a depression charity) provided the key themes and, through round-table discussion, developed draft statements. The main areas of focus were burden, detection and management of cognitive dysfunction in depression. These statements formed a questionnaire to be reviewed by 150–200 health-care professionals with an involvement in the management of depression, with level of agreement noted as ‘strongly disagree’, ‘disagree’, ‘don’t know/uncertain’, ‘agree’ or ‘strongly agree’. Responses to the questionnaire will be analysed (very high agreement [> 66%] or very low agreement [< 33%]) and the steering committee will revise and finalise the consensus statements, and identify priority areas for future consideration. The steering committee was initiated and supported by the pharmaceutical company Lundbeck Ltd, through an educational grant. Lundbeck Ltd did not influence content.

Results of the questionnaire and the evolution of the final consensus statements will be presented.

The authors have not supplied their declaration of competing interest.

Polygenic risk scores (PRS) incorporate many small genetic markers that are associated with conditions. This technique was first used to investigate mental illnesses in 2009. Since then, it has been widely used.

We wanted to explore how PRS have been used to the study the aetiology of psychosis, schizophrenia, bipolar disorder and depression.

We aimed to conduct a systematic review, identifying studies that have examined associations between PRS for bipolar disorder, schizophrenia/psychosis and depression and psychopathology-related outcome measures.

We searched EMBASE, Medline and PsychInfo from 06/08/2009 to 14/03/2016. We hand-searched the reference lists of related papers.

After removing duplicates, the search yielded 1043 publications. When irrelevant articles were excluded, 33 articles remained. We found 24 studies using schizophrenia PRS, three using bipolar PRS and nine using depression PRS. Many studies successfully used PRS to predict case/control status. Some studies showed associations between PRS and diagnostic sub-categories. A range of clinical phenotypes and symptoms has been explored. For example, specific PRS are associated with cognitive performance in schizophrenia, psychotic symptoms in bipolar disorder, and frequency of episodes of depression. PRS have also demonstrated genetic overlap between mental illnesses. It was difficult to assess the quality of some studies as not all reported sufficient methodological detail.

PRS have enabled us to explore the polygenic architecture of mental illness and demonstrate a genetic basis for some observed features. However, they have yet to give insights into the biology, which underpin mental illnesses.

The authors have not supplied their declaration of competing interest.

Item 9 of the Patient Health Questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9) queries about thoughts of death and self-harm, but not suicidality. Although it is sometimes used to assess suicide risk, most positive responses are not associated with suicidality. The PHQ-8, which omits Item 9, is thus increasingly used in research. We assessed equivalency of total score correlations and the diagnostic accuracy to detect major depression of the PHQ-8 and PHQ-9.

We conducted an individual patient data meta-analysis. We fit bivariate random-effects models to assess diagnostic accuracy.

16 742 participants (2097 major depression cases) from 54 studies were included. The correlation between PHQ-8 and PHQ-9 scores was 0.996 (95% confidence interval 0.996 to 0.996). The standard cutoff score of 10 for the PHQ-9 maximized sensitivity + specificity for the PHQ-8 among studies that used a semi-structured diagnostic interview reference standard (N = 27). At cutoff 10, the PHQ-8 was less sensitive by 0.02 (−0.06 to 0.00) and more specific by 0.01 (0.00 to 0.01) among those studies (N = 27), with similar results for studies that used other types of interviews (N = 27). For all 54 primary studies combined, across all cutoffs, the PHQ-8 was less sensitive than the PHQ-9 by 0.00 to 0.05 (0.03 at cutoff 10), and specificity was within 0.01 for all cutoffs (0.00 to 0.01).

PHQ-8 and PHQ-9 total scores were similar. Sensitivity may be minimally reduced with the PHQ-8, but specificity is similar.

Different diagnostic interviews are used as reference standards for major depression classification in research. Semi-structured interviews involve clinical judgement, whereas fully structured interviews are completely scripted. The Mini International Neuropsychiatric Interview (MINI), a brief fully structured interview, is also sometimes used. It is not known whether interview method is associated with probability of major depression classification.

To evaluate the association between interview method and odds of major depression classification, controlling for depressive symptom scores and participant characteristics.

Data collected for an individual participant data meta-analysis of Patient Health Questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9) diagnostic accuracy were analysed and binomial generalised linear mixed models were fit.

A total of 17 158 participants (2287 with major depression) from 57 primary studies were analysed. Among fully structured interviews, odds of major depression were higher for the MINI compared with the Composite International Diagnostic Interview (CIDI) (odds ratio (OR) = 2.10; 95% CI = 1.15–3.87). Compared with semi-structured interviews, fully structured interviews (MINI excluded) were non-significantly more likely to classify participants with low-level depressive symptoms (PHQ-9 scores ≤6) as having major depression (OR = 3.13; 95% CI = 0.98–10.00), similarly likely for moderate-level symptoms (PHQ-9 scores 7–15) (OR = 0.96; 95% CI = 0.56–1.66) and significantly less likely for high-level symptoms (PHQ-9 scores ≥16) (OR = 0.50; 95% CI = 0.26–0.97).

The MINI may identify more people as depressed than the CIDI, and semi-structured and fully structured interviews may not be interchangeable methods, but these results should be replicated.

Drs Jetté and Patten declare that they received a grant, outside the submitted work, from the Hotchkiss Brain Institute, which was jointly funded by the Institute and Pfizer. Pfizer was the original sponsor of the development of the PHQ-9, which is now in the public domain. Dr Chan is a steering committee member or consultant of Astra Zeneca, Bayer, Lilly, MSD and Pfizer. She has received sponsorships and honorarium for giving lectures and providing consultancy and her affiliated institution has received research grants from these companies. Dr Hegerl declares that within the past 3 years, he was an advisory board member for Lundbeck, Servier and Otsuka Pharma; a consultant for Bayer Pharma; and a speaker for Medice Arzneimittel, Novartis, and Roche Pharma, all outside the submitted work. Dr Inagaki declares that he has received grants from Novartis Pharma, lecture fees from Pfizer, Mochida, Shionogi, Sumitomo Dainippon Pharma, Daiichi-Sankyo, Meiji Seika and Takeda, and royalties from Nippon Hyoron Sha, Nanzando, Seiwa Shoten, Igaku-shoin and Technomics, all outside of the submitted work. Dr Yamada reports personal fees from Meiji Seika Pharma Co., Ltd., MSD K.K., Asahi Kasei Pharma Corporation, Seishin Shobo, Seiwa Shoten Co., Ltd., Igaku-shoin Ltd., Chugai Igakusha and Sentan Igakusha, all outside the submitted work. All other authors declare no competing interests. No funder had any role in the design and conduct of the study; collection, management, analysis and interpretation of the data; preparation, review or approval of the manuscript; and decision to submit the manuscript for publication.

This paper reports on: (1) an evaluation of a common elements treatment approach (CETA) developed for comorbid presentations of depression, anxiety, traumatic stress, and/or externalizing symptoms among children in three Somali refugee camps on the Ethiopian/Somali border, and (2) an evaluation of implementation factors from the perspective of staff, lay providers, and families who engaged in the intervention.

This project was conducted in three refugee camps and utilized locally validated mental health instruments for internalizing, externalizing, and posttraumatic stress (PTS) symptoms. Participants were recruited from either a validity study or from referrals from social workers within International Rescue Committee Programs. Lay providers delivered CETA to youth (CETA-Youth) and families, and symptoms were re-assessed post-treatment. Providers and families responded to a semi-structured interview to assess implementation factors.

Children who participated in the CETA-Youth open trial reported significant decreases in symptoms of internalizing (d  =  1.37), externalizing (d  =  0.85), and posttraumatic stress (d  =  1.71), and improvements in well-being (d  =  0.75). Caregivers also reported significant decreases in child symptoms. Qualitative results were positive toward the acceptability and appropriateness of treatment, and its feasibility.

This project is the first to examine a common elements approach (CETA: defined as flexible delivery of elements, order, and dosing) with children and caregivers in a low-resource setting with delivery by lay providers. CETA-Youth may offer an effective treatment that is easier to implement and scale-up versus multiple focal interventions. A fullscale randomized clinical trial is warranted.