The Outcomes of Depression International Network (ODIN) trial evaluated the effect of two psychological interventions for the treatment of depression in primary care. Only about half of the patients in the treatment arm complied with the offer of treatment, prompting the question: ‘what was the effect of treatment in those patients who actually received it?’

To illustrate the estimation of the effect of receipt of treatment in a randomised controlled trial subject to non-compliance and loss to follow-up.

We estimated the complier average causal effect (CACE) of treatment.

In the ODIN trial the effect of receipt of psychological intervention (an average of about 4 points on the Beck Depression Inventory) is about twice that of offering it.

The statistical analysis of the results of a clinical trial subject to noncompliance to allocated treatment is now reasonably straightforward through estimation of a CACE and investigators should be encouraged to present the results of analyses of this type as a routine component of a trial report.

A report from a 1980s cohort claimed that suicidal behaviour was four times less common in UK-resident people of Caribbean origin with psychosis than in British Whites. Since then, evidence has accumulated that the rate of suicide and suicidal ideation has been increasing.

To compare rates of suicidal behaviour in people of Caribbean and British White origin in a large multi-centre sample of patients with psychosis.

A secondary analysis of 708 patients with psychosis followed up for 2 years. Outcome measures of reported suicide and attempted suicide were adjusted for socio-economic and clinical differences between groups at baseline.

People of Caribbean origin had a lower risk of suicidal behaviour than British Whites (odds ratio adjusted for age and gender 0.49, 95% C1 0.26–0.92). There was a strong negative interaction between ethnic group and age: suicidal acts were four times less likely in people of Caribbean origin aged over 35 years compared with British Whites, but there was no large or significant difference in those under 35.

The previously reported lower relative risk of suicidal behaviour in people of Caribbean origin with psychosis is restricted to those over 35 years, suggesting that the protective effect of Caribbean origin is disappearing in younger generations.

Physical health of people with schizophrenia is poor and they die early from cardiovascular disease.

To describe the lifestyle of people with schizophrenia through diet, smoking habits, weight and exercise, and to report risk of coronary heart disease (CHD).

Dietary habits of 102 community-dwelling people with schizophrenia were assessed by the Scottish Health Survey Questionnaire. Also assessed were smoking habits, physical activity biochemical indices of nutrition and future risk of CHD.

Fewer males, compared with the general population, reached acceptable levels for consumption of fruit, vegetables, milk, potatoes and pulses. Fewer females reached the levels for consumption of milk and potatoes. Mean number of fruit and vegetable portions consumed per week was 16 (s.d.=14); 71 (70%) were smokers; 25 (86%) females and 50 (70%) males were overweight or obese; 59 (59%) considered themselves physically active; 46 (53%) had a raised cholesterol: high-density lipoprotein ratio, and 64 (74%) a low α-tocopherol: cholesterol ratio. Mean 10-year risk of CHD in males was 10.5% (s.d.=8) and in females 7% (s.d.=6).

The lifestyle of people with schizophrenia must give cause for concern in relation to CHD Care from secondary care services must address physical as well as mental health.

Although the model of assertive outreach has been widely adopted, it is unclear who receives assertive outreach in practice and what outcomes can be expected under routine conditions.

To assess patient characteristics and outcome in routine assertive outreach services in the UK.

Patients (n=580) were sampled from 24 assertive outreach teams in London. Outcomes – days spent in hospital and compulsory hospitalisation – were assessed over a 9-month follow-up.

The 6-month prevalence rate of substance misuse was 29%, and 35% of patients had been physically violent in the past 2 years. During follow-up, 39% were hospitalised and 25% compulsorily admitted. Outcome varied significantly between team types. These differences did not hold true when baseline differences in patient characteristics were controlled for.

Routine assertive outreach serves a wide range of patients with significant rates of substance misuse and violent behaviour. Over a 9-month period an average of 25% of assertive outreach patients can be expected to be hospitalised compulsorily. Differences in outcome between team types can be explained by differences in patient characteristics.

There is a need for a brief and simple screen for personality disorders that can be used in routine psychiatric assessments.

To test the concurrent validity and test–retest reliability of a brief screen for personality disorder.

Sixty psychiatric patients were administered a brief screening interview for personality disorder. On the same day, they were interviewed with an established assessment for DSM–IV personality disorder. Three weeks later, the brief screening interview was repeated in order to examine test–retest reliability.

A score of 3 on the screening interview correctly identified the presence of DSM–IV personality disorder in 90% of participants. The sensitivity and specificity were 0.94 and 0.85 respectively.

The study provides preliminary evidence of the usefulness of the screen in routine clinical settings.

We have suggested recently that there may be a subgroup of schizophrenia, namely schizophrenia with dyskinesia and striatal pathology Might movement disorders be more common in relatives of those with schizophrenia and dyskinesia than in relatives of those without dyskinesia?

To determine the prevalence of abnormal movements in first-degree relatives of people with schizophrenia who themselves do or do not have abnormal movements.

Chronically ill, never-treated people with schizophrenia in south India (n=70) and their first-degree relatives (n=181) were examined for dyskinesia using the Abnormal Involuntary Movements Scale (AIMS) and for parkinsonism by the Simpson and Angus scale.

Of all relatives, 25 (14%) had dyskinetic movements in at least one body area and 6 (3%) had parkinsonism. Siblings of people with schizophrenia and dyskinesia, compared with siblings of people without dyskinesia, had a higher total AIMS score and more had mild dyskinetic movements in at least one area (5/15 v. 3/34, P=0.04). There were no between-group differences in parkinsonism.

Dyskinesia but not parkinsonism is more common in siblings of people with schizophrenia who have the corresponding movement disorder.

In war-affected societies it is assumed that the major mental health problem facing the population will be stress reactions.

To describe the creation of a child and adolescent mental health service (CAMHS) in Kosovo after the military conflict ended in 1999, and to establish the range of problems and diagnoses that presented.

Data were collected on 559 patients over 2 years, including their referring problems and diagnoses.

Stress-related disorders constituted only a fifth of the case-load in year 1. A substantial number of patients were symptom-free but attended because they had been exposed to atraumatic event, and believed it might make them ill. Non-organic enuresis and learning disability were the most common diagnoses in year 2. Many patients had a complex mix of social and psychological difficulties that did not fit conventional diagnostic categories.

Mental health services that only address traumatic stress may fail to meet the needs of war-affected children. A comprehensive, culturally appropriate CAMHS is needed to address a wide range of problems including learning disability. It should be developed through local actors, and build on existing local infrastructure. Services can also have an educational role in ‘depathologising’ normative responses.

Abusive experiences in childhood and adulthood increase risks of psychiatric morbidity in women and independently increase risks of further abuse over the lifetime. It is unclear which experiences are most damaging.

To measure lifetime prevalence of abusive experiences and psychiatric morbidity, and to analyse associations in women primary care attenders.

A cross-sectional, self-report survey of 1207 women attending 13 surgeries in the London borough of Hackney, UK. Independent associations between demographic measures, abusive experiences and psychiatric outcome were established using logistic regression.

Childhood sexual abuse had few associations with adult mental health measures, in contrast to physical abuse. Sexual assault in adulthood was associated with substance misuse; rape with anxiety, depression and post-traumatic stress disorder but not substance misuse. Domestic violence showed strongest associations with most mental health measures, increased for experiences in the past year.

Abuse in childhood and adulthood have differential effects on mental health; effects are increased by recency and severity. Women should be routinely questioned about ongoing and recent experiences as well as childhood.

Since de-institutionalisation, much has been written about the risk posed to the community by those with severe mental illness. However, violent victimisation of people with mental illnesses has received little attention.

To establish the 1-year prevalence of violent victimisation in community-dwelling patients with psychosis and to identify the socio-demographic and clinical correlates of violent victimisation.

A total of 691 subjects with established psychotic disorders were interviewed. The past-year prevalence of violent victimisation was estimated and compared with general population figures. Those who reported being violently victimised were compared with those who did not on a range of social and clinical characteristics.

Sixteen per cent of patients reported being violently victimised. Victims of violence were significantly more likely to report severe psychopathological symptoms, homelessness, substance misuse and previous violent behaviour and were more likely to have a comorbid personality disorder.

Those with psychosis are at considerable risk of violent victimisation in the community. Victimisation experience should be recorded in the standard psychiatric interview.

The number of psychiatric beds per capita in Japan is the highest in the world, and a replication of earlier British research is needed to identify possible means of improving the mental health system.

To describe the current situation of psychiatric hospitals in Japan and to examine the relationship between negative symptoms of schizophrenia and social environments.

In-patients with schizophrenia were randomly selected from 139 hospitals. Data were obtained for 2758 participants using several scales, including the Manchester Scale and social environment scales.

Negative symptom scales showed a significant correlation with under stimulating social environments in hospitals.

This study confirms the results from the UK and provides evidence for the importance of community-based care and for providing more-stimulating rehabilitation environments.

Information on suicide by psychiatric patients from ethnic minority groups is scarce.

To establish the number of patients from ethnic minorities who kill themselves; to describe their suicide methods, and their social and clinical characteristics.

A national clinical survey was based on a 4-year sample of suicides in England and Wales. Detailed data were collected on those who had been in contact with mental health services in the year before death.

In total 282 patients from ethnic minorities died by suicide – 6% of all patient suicides. The most common method of suicide was hanging; violent methods were more common than in White patient suicides. Schizophrenia was the most common diagnosis. Ethnic minority patients were more likely to have been unemployed than White patients and to have had a history of violence and recent non-compliance. In around half, this was the first episode of self-harm. Black Caribbean patients had the highest rates of schizophrenia (74%), unemployment, living alone, previous violence and drug misuse.

In order to reduce the number of suicides byethnicminority patients, services should address the complex health and social needs of people with severe mental illness.

It is unclear why intensive case management (ICM) failed to reduce hospitalisation in the UK700 trial.

To investigate outcome generation in the UK700 trial.

A qualitative investigation was undertaken in one UK700 centre.

Both intensive and standard case management practised individual casework, employed assertive outreach with comparable frequency, and performed similarly in the out-patient management of emergencies and inpatient discharge. However, ICM was advantaged in managing some noncompliance and undertaking casework that prevented psychiatric emergencies. Absence of team-based management and bureaucratised access to social care limited the impact of these differences on outcomes and the effective practice of assertive outreach, although this was relevant to only a sub-population of patients.

The impact of ICM was undermined by organisational factors. Sensitive anticipatory casework, which prevents psychiatric emergencies, may make ICM more effective than an exclusive focus on assertive outreach. Our findings demonstrate the value of qualitative research in evaluating complex interventions.

Little is known about the current state of provision of child and adolescent mental health service in-patient units in the UK.

To describe the full number, distribution and key characteristics of child and adolescent psychiatric in-patient units in England and Wales.

Following identification of units, data were collected by a postal general survey with telephone follow-up.

Eighty units were identified; these provided 900 beds, of which 244 (27%) were managed by the independent sector. Units are unevenly distributed, with a concentration of beds in London and the south-east of England. The independent sector, which manages a high proportion of specialist services and eating disorder units in particular, accentuates this uneven distribution. Nearly two-thirds of units reported that they would not accept emergency admissions.

A national approach is needed to the planning and commissioning of this specialist service.

Little is known about the mental health of gay men and lesbians living in Europe.

To compare psychological status, quality of life and use of mental health services by lesbians and gay men with heterosexual people.

Cross-sectional study in England and Wales using ‘snowball’ sampling.

Participants: 656 gay men, 505 heterosexual men, 430 lesbians and 588 heterosexual women. Gay men were more likely than heterosexual men to score above threshold on the Clinical Interview Schedule, indicating greater levels of psychological distress (RR 1.24, 95% Cl 1.07–1.43), as were lesbians compared with heterosexual women (RR 1.30, 95% Cl 1.11-1.52). Gay men and lesbians were more likely than heterosexuals to have consulted a mental health professional in the past, deliberately harmed themselves and used recreational drugs. Lesbians were more likely to have experienced verbal and physical intimidation and to consume more alcohol than heterosexual women.

Awareness of mental health issues for gay men and lesbians should become a standard part of training for mental health professionals, who need to be aware of the potential for substance misuse and self-harm in this group and of the discrimination experienced by many lesbians.

Despite the frequently reported association between maternal depression and childhood psychopathological disorder, few studies have attempted to intervene with both conditions.

To evaluate the effect of group cognitive-behavioural therapy (CBT) on child behaviour problems and maternal depression in a group of women with young children.

An assessor-masked, randomised placebo-controlled trial compared three treatments: CBT for depression and parenting skills enhancement; a mothers' support group; and no intervention. An epidemiological (general population) sample was recruited.

Analysis showed no significant difference between the groups. Within-group comparison suggested that at the end of treatment and at 6-month and 12-month follow-up, child problems and maternal depression had improved significantly in the CBT group.

There was no statistically significant difference between groups. Both contact interventions seemed to provide some benefits to mothers with depression, with a possibly improved outcome resulting from CBT for children with behavioural problems. The results must be treated with caution.

Most anxiety/depression is not effectively treated.

Open evaluation of a free clinic giving immediate computer-aided cognitive – behavioural therapy (CBT) self-help plus brief advice from a therapist.

Test of outcome of self-referrals who used one of four computer-aided CBT systems for depression, phobia/panic, general anxiety or obsessive-compulsive disorder.

The equivalent of one full-time clinician managed 355 referrals over a year. Of the 266 who had a screening interview 79% were suitable. Completers and non-completers of computer-aided CBT had similar pre-treatment features, with very chronic, moderately severe problems. Completers of the computer-aided self-help had a mean total of an hour's live therapist support over 12 weeks. They improved significantly and clinically meaningfully with three of the four systems and felt ‘fairly satisfied’. Improvement resembled that in controlled and other trials of computer-aided CBT.

Computer-aided self-help is a‘clinician extender’ that greatly cuts per-patient therapist time without impairing improvement. It could reduce the per-patient cost of CBT.

An increased risk of choking associated with antipsychotic medication has been repeatedly postulated.

To examine this association in a large number of cases of choking deaths.

Cases of individuals who had died because of choking were linked with a case register recording contacts with public mental health services. The actual and expected rates of psychiatric disorder and the presence of psychotropic medication in post-mortem blood samples were compared.

The 70 people who had choked to death were over 20 times more likely to have been treated previously for schizophrenia. They were also more likely to have had a prior organic psychiatric syndrome. The risk for those receiving thioridazine or lithium was, respectively, 92 times and 30 times greater than expected. Other antipsychotic and psychotropic drugs were not over-represented.

The increased risk of death in people with schizophrenia may be a combination of inherent predispositions and the use of specific antipsychotic drugs. The increased risk of choking in those with organic psychiatric syndromes is consistent with the consequences of compromised neurological competence.