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We examined demographic, clinical, and psychological characteristics of a large cohort (n = 368) of adults with dissociative seizures (DS) recruited to the CODES randomised controlled trial (RCT) and explored differences associated with age at onset of DS, gender, and DS semiology.
Methods
Prior to randomisation within the CODES RCT, we collected demographic and clinical data on 368 participants. We assessed psychiatric comorbidity using the Mini-International Neuropsychiatric Interview (M.I.N.I.) and a screening measure of personality disorder and measured anxiety, depression, psychological distress, somatic symptom burden, emotional expression, functional impact of DS, avoidance behaviour, and quality of life. We undertook comparisons based on reported age at DS onset (<40 v. ⩾40), gender (male v. female), and DS semiology (predominantly hyperkinetic v. hypokinetic).
Results
Our cohort was predominantly female (72%) and characterised by high levels of socio-economic deprivation. Two-thirds had predominantly hyperkinetic DS. Of the total, 69% had ⩾1 comorbid M.I.N.I. diagnosis (median number = 2), with agoraphobia being the most common concurrent diagnosis. Clinical levels of distress were reported by 86% and characteristics associated with maladaptive personality traits by 60%. Moderate-to-severe functional impairment, high levels of somatic symptoms, and impaired quality of life were also reported. Women had a younger age at DS onset than men.
Conclusions
Our study highlights the burden of psychopathology and socio-economic deprivation in a large, heterogeneous cohort of patients with DS. The lack of clear differences based on gender, DS semiology and age at onset suggests these factors do not add substantially to the heterogeneity of the cohort.
Consideration of ethical, legal, and social issues plus patient values (ELSI+) in health technology assessment (HTA) is challenging because of a lack of conceptual clarity and the multi-disciplinary nature of ELSI+. We used concept mapping to identify key concepts and inter-relationships in the ELSI+ domain and provide a conceptual framework for consideration of ELSI+ in HTA.
Methods
We conducted a scoping review (Medline and EMBASE, 2000–2016) to identify ELSI+ issues in the HTA literature. Items from the scoping review and an expert brainstorming session were consolidated into eighty ELSI+-related statements, which were entered into Concept Systems® Global MAX™ software. Participants (N = 38; 36 percent worked as researchers, 21 percent as academics; 42 percent self-identified as HTA experts) sorted the statements into thematic groups, and rated them on importance in making decisions about adopting technologies in Canada, from 1 (not at all important) to 5 (extremely important). We used Concept Systems® Global MAX™ software to create and analyze concept maps with four to sixteen clusters.
Results
Our final ELSI+ map consisted of five clusters, with each cluster representing a different concept and the statements within each cluster representing the same concept. Based on the concepts, we named these clusters: patient preferences/experiences, patient quality of life/function, patient burden/harm, fairness, and organizational. The highest mean importance ratings were for the statements in the patient burden/harm (3.82) and organizational (3.92) clusters.
Conclusions
This study suggests an alternative approach to ELSI+, based on conceptual coherence rather than academic disciplines. This will provide a foundation for incorporating ELSI+ into HTA.
Edited by
Kathryn Hurlock, Senior Lecturer in Medieval History, Manchester Metropolitan University,Paul Oldfield, Lecturer in Medieval History, University of Manchester
Edited by
Kathryn Hurlock, Senior Lecturer in Medieval History, Manchester Metropolitan University,Paul Oldfield, Lecturer in Medieval History, University of Manchester
Edited by
Kathryn Hurlock, Senior Lecturer in Medieval History, Manchester Metropolitan University,Paul Oldfield, Lecturer in Medieval History, University of Manchester
Edited by
Kathryn Hurlock, Senior Lecturer in Medieval History, Manchester Metropolitan University,Paul Oldfield, Lecturer in Medieval History, University of Manchester
Edited by
Kathryn Hurlock, Senior Lecturer in Medieval History, Manchester Metropolitan University,Paul Oldfield, Lecturer in Medieval History, University of Manchester
Edited by
Kathryn Hurlock, Senior Lecturer in Medieval History, Manchester Metropolitan University,Paul Oldfield, Lecturer in Medieval History, University of Manchester
Edited by
Kathryn Hurlock, Senior Lecturer in Medieval History, Manchester Metropolitan University,Paul Oldfield, Lecturer in Medieval History, University of Manchester
Edited by
Kathryn Hurlock, Senior Lecturer in Medieval History, Manchester Metropolitan University,Paul Oldfield, Lecturer in Medieval History, University of Manchester
Edited by
Kathryn Hurlock, Senior Lecturer in Medieval History, Manchester Metropolitan University,Paul Oldfield, Lecturer in Medieval History, University of Manchester
Edited by
Kathryn Hurlock, Senior Lecturer in Medieval History, Manchester Metropolitan University,Paul Oldfield, Lecturer in Medieval History, University of Manchester
Edited by
Kathryn Hurlock, Senior Lecturer in Medieval History, Manchester Metropolitan University,Paul Oldfield, Lecturer in Medieval History, University of Manchester
The reputation of the Normans is rooted in warfare, faith and mobility. They were simultaneously famed as warriors, noted for their religious devotion, and celebrated as fearless travellers. In the Middle Ages few activities offered a better conduit to combine warfare, religiosity, and movement than crusading and pilgrimage. However, while scholarship is abundant on many facets of the Norman world, it is a surprise that the Norman relationship with crusading and pilgrimage, so central in many ways to Norman identity, has hitherto not received extensive treatment. The collection here seeks to fill this gap. It aims to identify what was unique or different about the Normans and their relationship with crusading and pilgrimage, as well as how and why crusade and pilgrimage were important to the Normans. Particular focus is given to Norman participation in the First Crusade, to Norman interaction in later crusading initiatives, to the significance of pilgrimage in diverse parts of the Norman world, and finally to the ways in which crusading and pilgrimage were recorded in Norman narrative. Ultimately, this volume aims to assess, in some cases to confirm, and in others to revise the established paradigm of the Normans as crusaders par excellence and as opportunists who used religion to serve other agendas.
Dr Kathryn Hurlock is Senior Lecturer in Medieval History at Manchester Metropolitan University; Dr Paul Oldfield is Lecturer in Medieval History at the University of Manchester.
Contributors: Andrew Abram, William M. Aird, Emily Albu, Joanna Drell, Leonie Hicks, Natasha Hodgson, Kathryn Hurlock, Alan V. Murray, Paul Oldfield, David S. Spear, Lucas Villegas-Aristizábal.
Edited by
Kathryn Hurlock, Senior Lecturer in Medieval History, Manchester Metropolitan University,Paul Oldfield, Lecturer in Medieval History, University of Manchester
Edited by
Kathryn Hurlock, Senior Lecturer in Medieval History, Manchester Metropolitan University,Paul Oldfield, Lecturer in Medieval History, University of Manchester
Many mental health service users delay or avoid disclosing their condition to employers because of experience, or anticipation, of discrimination. However, non-disclosure precludes the ability to request ‘reasonable adjustments’. There have been no intervention studies to support decisionmaking about disclosure to an employer.
Aims
To determine whether the decision aid has an effect that is sustained beyond its immediate impact; to determine whether a large-scale trial is feasible; and to optimise the designs of a larger trial and of the decision aid.
Method
In this exploratory randomised controlled trial (RCT) in London, participants were randomly assigned to use of a decision aid plus usual care or usual care alone. Follow-up was at 3 months. Primary outcomes were: (a) stage of decision-making; (b) decisional conflict; and (c) employment-related outcomes (trial registration number: NCT01379014).
Results
We recruited 80 participants and interventions were completed for 36 out of 40 in the intervention group; in total 71 participants were followed up. Intention-to-treat analysis showed that reduction in decisional conflict was significantly greater in the intervention group than among controls (mean improvement −22.7 (s.d. = 15.2) v. −11.2 (s.d. = 18.1), P = 0.005). More of the intervention group than controls were in full-time employment at follow-up (P = 0.03).
Conclusions
The observed reduction in decisional conflict regarding disclosure has a number of potential benefits which next need to be tested in a definitive trial.
Depression is a common and costly comorbidity in dementia. There are very few data on the cost-effectiveness of antidepressants for depression in dementia and their effects on carer outcomes.
Aims
To evaluate the cost-effectiveness of sertraline and mirtazapine compared with placebo for depression in dementia.
Method
A pragmatic, multicentre, randomised placebo-controlled trial with a parallel cost-effectiveness analysis (trial registration: ISRCTN88882979 and EudraCT 2006-000105-38). The primary cost-effectiveness analysis compared differences in treatment costs for patients receiving sertraline, mirtazapine or placebo with differences in effectiveness measured by the primary outcome, total Cornell Scale for Depression in Dementia (CSDD) score, over two time periods: 0–13 weeks and 0–39 weeks. The secondary evaluation was a cost-utility analysis using quality-adjusted life years (QALYs) computed from the Euro-Qual (EQ-5D) and societal weights over those same periods.
Results
There were 339 participants randomised and 326 with costs data (111 placebo, 107 sertraline, 108 mirtazapine). For the primary outcome, decrease in depression, mirtazapine and sertraline were not cost-effective compared with placebo. However, examining secondary outcomes, the time spent by unpaid carers caring for participants in the mirtazapine group was almost half that for patients receiving placebo (6.74 v. 12.27 hours per week) or sertraline (6.74 v. 12.32 hours per week). Informal care costs over 39 weeks were £1510 and £1522 less for the mirtazapine group compared with placebo and sertraline respectively.
Conclusions
In terms of reducing depression, mirtazapine and sertraline were not cost-effective for treating depression in dementia. However, mirtazapine does appear likely to have been cost-effective if costing includes the impact on unpaid carers and with quality of life included in the outcome. Unpaid (family) carer costs were lower with mirtazapine than sertraline or placebo. This may have been mediated via the putative ability of mirtazapine to ameliorate sleep disturbances and anxiety. Given the priority and the potential value of supporting family carers of people with dementia, further research is warranted to investigate the potential of mirtazapine to help with behavioural and psychological symptoms in dementia and in supporting carers.
Psychosocial interventions can improve behaviour and mood in people with
dementia, but it is unclear how to maximise their effectiveness or
acceptability in residential settings.
Aims
To understand what underlies the successful implementation of
psychosocial interventions in care homes.
Method
Systematic review and meta-synthesis of qualitative research.
Results
The synthesis of 39 qualitative papers revealed that beneficial
psychosocial interventions met the needs of people with dementia to
connect with others, make a meaningful contribution and reminisce.
Successful implementation rested on the active engagement of staff and
family and the continuing provision of tailored interventions and
support. This necessitated staff time, and raised issues around
priorities and risk, but ultimately helped redefine staff attitudes
towards residents and the caregiving role.
Conclusions
The findings from the meta-synthesis can help to inform the development
and evaluation of psychosocial interventions in care homes and support
their widespread implementation in clinical settings.
People with dementia often die badly, receiving end-of-life care of poorer quality than that given to those who are cognitively intact.
Aims
To define good end-of-life care for people with dementia and identify how it can be delivered across care settings in the UK.
Method
In-depth interviews were conducted with 27 bereaved family carers and 23 care professionals recruited from the community, care homes, general hospitals and continuing care units. Data were analysed using the constant comparison method.
Results
The data highlighted the challenge and imperative of ‘dementia-proofing’ end-of-life care for people with dementia. This requires using dementia expertise to meet physical care needs, going beyond task-focused care and prioritising planning and communication with families.
Conclusions
The quality of end-of-life care exists on a continuum across care settings. Together, the data reveal key elements of good end-of-life care and that staff education, supervision and specialist input can enable its provision.