Psychosis is a major mental illness with first onset in young adults. The prognosis is poor in around half of the people affected, and difficult to predict. The few tools available to predict prognosis have major weaknesses which limit their use in clinical practice. We aimed to develop and validate a risk prediction model of symptom non-remission in first-episode psychosis.

Our development cohort consisted of 1027 patients with first-episode psychosis recruited between 2005 to 2010 from 14 early intervention services across the National Health Service in England. Our validation cohort consisted of 399 patients with first-episode psychosis recruited between 2006 to 2009 from a further 11 English early intervention services. The one-year non-remission rate was 52% and 54% in the development and validation cohorts, respectively. Multivariable logistic regression was used to develop a risk prediction model for non-remission, which was externally validated.

The prediction model showed good discrimination (C-statistic of 0.74 (0.72, 0.76) and adequate calibration with intercept alpha of 0.13 (0.03, 0.23) and slope beta of 0.99 (0.87, 1.12). Our model improved the net-benefit by 16% at a risk threshold of 50%, equivalent to 16 more detected non-remitted first-episode psychosis individuals per 100 without incorrectly classifying remitted cases.

Once prospectively validated, our first episode psychosis prediction model could help identify patients at increased risk of non-remission at initial clinical contact.

Botulinum toxin type A (BoNT-A) is used in the management of lower limb spasticity in children, which affects more than 2.5 million children worldwide. BoNT-A aims to improve active function and to prevent or delay future musculoskeletal complications. The objective was to evaluate the relative efficacy and safety of different BoNT-A to manage spasticity in children, in the absence of head-to-head evidence.

A systematic literature review was conducted in March 2016 to identify all relevant randomized controlled trials. The evidence base was synthesized by means of Bayesian network meta-analyses. Scenario analyses included standardized mean differences (SMD). The endpoints were Modified Ashworth Scale (MAS), Tardieu scale-spasticity grade and Goal Attainment Scale (GAS) (SMD only) at twelve weeks post-injection, and any adverse events.

Thirty-eight studies were identified, ten of which met the inclusion criteria for quantitative synthesis. For MAS, abobotulinumtoxinA 15 U/kg/leg was significantly better compared to onabotulinumtoxinA 4 U/kg/leg (−0.99 [−1.49; –0.50]), onabotulinumtoxinA 4 U/kg/leg + casting (−0.81 [−1.30; –0.32]) and numerically (although not statistically significantly) better than onabotulinumtoxinA 8 U/kg (−0.70 [−1.64; 0.22], Pbetter=93%). For GAS, abobotulinumtoxinA 15 U/kg/leg was numerically better than onabotulinumtoxinA 12 U/kg/leg. On Tardieu scale-spasticity grade, abobotulinumtoxinA was comparable to other treatments. AbobotulinumtoxinA 15 U/kg/leg showed the highest SUCRA value on MAS and GAS. On tolerability, abobotulinumtoxinA was found to have comparable or fewer adverse events than onabotulinumtoxinA 4 U/kg/leg.

Our analyses suggest that abobotulinumtoxinA offers a comparable or favourable efficacy on tone (measured by MAS), spasticity (Tardieu scale-spasticity grade), functional outcomes (GAS) and tolerability versus onabotulinumtoxinA, in the management of children with lower limb spasticity. The results must be interpreted in the context of the heterogeneity of the evidence base and sparse evidence base.

Movement disorders associated with exposure to antipsychotic drugs are common and stigmatising but underdiagnosed.

To develop and evaluate a new clinical procedure, the ScanMove instrument, for the screening of antipsychotic-associated movement disorders for use by mental health nurses.

Item selection and content validity assessment for the ScanMove instrument were conducted by a panel of neurologists, psychiatrists and a mental health nurse, who operationalised a 31-item screening procedure. Interrater reliability was measured on ratings for 30 patients with psychosis from ten mental health nurses evaluating video recordings of the procedure. Criterion and concurrent validity were tested comparing the ScanMove instrument-based rating of 13 mental health nurses for 635 community patients from mental health services with diagnostic judgement of a movement disorder neurologist based on the ScanMove instrument and a reference procedure comprising a selection of commonly used rating scales.

Interreliability analysis showed no systematic difference between raters in their prediction of any antipsychotic-associated movement disorders category. On criterion validity testing, the ScanMove instrument showed good sensitivity for parkinsonism (90%) and hyperkinesia (89%), but not for akathisia (38%), whereas specificity was low for parkinsonism and hyperkinesia, and moderate for akathisia.

The ScanMove instrument demonstrated good feasibility and interrater reliability, and acceptable sensitivity as a mental health nurse-administered screening tool for parkinsonism and hyperkinesia.

None.

Early intervention services (EIS) comprise low-stigma, youth-friendly mental health teams for young people undergoing first-episode psychosis (FEP). Engaging with the family of the young person is central to EIS policy and practice.

By analysing carers' accounts of their daily lives and affective challenges during a relative's FEP against the background of wider research into EIS, this paper explores relationships between carers' experiences and EIS.

Semi-structured longitudinal interviews with 80 carers of young people with FEP treated through English EIS.

Our data suggest that EIS successfully aid carers to support their relatives, particularly through the provision of knowledge about psychosis and medications. However, paradoxical ramifications of these user-focused engagements also emerge; they risk leaving carers' emotions unacknowledged and compounding an existing lack of help-seeking.

By focusing on EIS's engagements with carers, this paper draws attention to an urgent broader question: as a continuing emphasis on care outside the clinic space places family members at the heart of the care of those with severe mental illness, we ask: who can, and should, support carers, and in what ways?