Initiative to improve handover notes in a tertiary psychiatric hospital.

Clinical handover is an important process in hospital settings, but it is often carried out inadequately, posing potentially serious consequences for the patients. This project aimed to increase the effectiveness of handover notes when patients were transferred between a general psychiatric ward and other wards in a tertiary psychiatric hospital. Effective handover notes in this project were defined to have the following five components: brief psychiatric history, reason for the patient to be transferred, significant risk issues, reason for psychotropic medication change and active medical issues. Baseline measurement obtained from audits revealed that the completion rate of effective handover notes was only 27.27%, which could potentially compromise patient safety and staff work efficiency. To address this problem, a series of plan-do-study-act (PDSA) cycles was implemented to improve the handover process. The interventions included education to junior doctors, reminders to complete effective handover notes and implementation of a handover template. Following each PDSA cycle, data were gathered to assess whether an effect had been achieved and to identify ways to enhance interventions to maximise impact. After the final PDSA cycle, the percentage of effective handover notes among all transfer cases reached 90.50%. Postintervention feedback from inpatient team indicated that effective communication between different teams was ensured, and staff satisfaction and time savings were improved. This study highlights the importance of employing PDSA cycles to assess and refine interventions and the usefulness of structuring the content of key components of handover notes to obtain measurable improvements.

From Unipolar to Bipolar: The Diagnostic Evolution in an Elderly Man.

A pivotal concept in the field of mood disorders is the dichotomy between unipolar depression and bipolar disorder. Due to the unique treatment in older age bipolar disorder and the scarcity of research in this area, it is clinically important to raise the awareness of the diagnostic conversion of unipolar depression to bipolar disorder in the elderly population. We present a case of a 71-year-old Chinese man whose diagnosis was revised to bipolar disorder after 9 years of treatment for unipolar depression. Organic workup, including blood tests and brain imaging, was performed to rule out organic causes. This patient eventually responded well to the combined treatment of an antipsychotic and a mood stabilizer. This case report adds to the growing literature of challenges in identifying and managing bipolar disorder in the elderly. As unipolar depression and bipolar disorder have different disease courses and different treatment strategies, it is essential for clinicians to be aware of diagnostic conversion. Further research is needed to delineate bipolar disorder from unipolar depression in the elderly population.

Treatment-Resistant Schizophrenia, Clozapine Resistance, Genetic Associations, and Implications for Precision Psychiatry: A Scoping Review.

Treatment-resistant schizophrenia (TRS) is often associated with severe burden of disease, poor quality of life and functional impairment. Clozapine is the gold standard for the treatment of TRS, although it is also known to cause significant side effects in some patients. In view of the burgeoning interest in the role of genetic factors in precision psychiatry, we conducted a scoping review to narratively summarize the current genetic factors associated with TRS, clozapine resistance and side effects to clozapine treatment. We searched PubMed from inception to December 2022 and included 104 relevant studies in this review. Extant evidence comprised associations between TRS and clozapine resistance with genetic factors related to mainly dopaminergic and serotoninergic neurotransmitter systems, specifically, TRS and rs4680, rs4818 within COMT, and rs1799978 within DRD2; clozapine resistance and DRD3 polymorphisms, CYP1A2 polymorphisms; weight gain with LEP and SNAP-25 genes; and agranulocytosis risk with HLA-related polymorphisms. Future studies, including replication in larger multi-site samples, are still needed to elucidate putative risk genes and the interactions between different genes and their correlations with relevant clinical factors such as psychopathology, psychosocial functioning, cognition and progressive changes with treatment over time in TRS and clozapine resistance.

Misdiagnosis of Psychosis and Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder in a Young Patient with Autism Spectrum Disorder.

Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a neurodevelopmental disorder characterized by deficits in social interaction and the presence of restricted and repetitive patterns of behavior. Making a first diagnosis of ASD in adults has certain difficulties, including inaccurate recall of developmental history and overlapping behaviors with other psychiatric conditions. This case study presents a young man who was assessed to have no major mental illness during his first visit to emergency services in a psychiatric hospital. During his second visit, he was initially assessed to have first episode psychosis, due to his possible delusional beliefs related to the insurance payout, social withdrawal, and strange behaviors, and then later he was assessed to have obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) instead of psychosis, because of his recurrent and intrusive thoughts. Eventually, his diagnosis was revised to ASD during outpatient follow-up after more comprehensive assessment. It is not easy to differentiate ASD from psychosis among some adult patients, even for expert psychiatrists. Cognitive rigidity in ASD may be similar to delusions in psychosis. Unusual behaviors in ASD can be confused with disorganized behaviors in psychosis. Differentiating ASD from OCD can be a complicated task as well, due to similarities between ASD and OCD. Restricted interests and repetitive behaviors in ASD may be perceived as obsessions and compulsions in OCD. Overall, diagnosis of ASD in adults requires comprehensive evaluation. Distinguishing symptoms of OCD and psychosis from autistic traits is critical for accurate diagnosis and optimal treatment. Although research in adult ASD has expanded alongside increased prevalence statistics over the past few years, more efforts to enhance the diagnostic processes in adult ASD are needed to reduce the challenges in this field.

Global Neuropsychopharmacological Prescription Trends in Adults with Schizophrenia, Clinical Correlates and Implications for Practice: A Scoping Review.

It is important to examine the psychotropic prescription practices in schizophrenia, as it can inform regarding changing treatment choices and related patient profiles. No recent reviews have evaluated the global neuropsychopharmacological prescription patterns in adults with schizophrenia. A systematic search of the literature published from 2002 to 2023 found 88 empirical papers pertinent to the utilization of psychotropic agents. Globally, there were wide inter-country and inter-regional variations in the prescription of psychotropic agents. Overall, over time there was an absolute increase in the prescription rate of second-generation antipsychotics (up to 50%), mood stabilizers (up to 15%), and antidepressants (up to 17%), with an observed absolute decrease in the rate of antipsychotic polypharmacy (up to 15%), use of high dose antipsychotic (up to 12% in Asia), clozapine (up to 9%) and antipsychotic long-acting injectables (up to 10%). Prescription patterns were mainly associated with specific socio-demographic (such as age), illness (such as illness duration), and treatment factors (such as adherence). Further work, including more evidence in adjunctive neuropsychopharmacological treatments, pharmaco-economic considerations, and examination of cohorts in prospective studies, can proffer insights into changing prescription trends relevant to different treatment settings and predictors of such trends for enhancement of clinical management in schizophrenia.

Intellectual disability and COVID-19: A bibliometric review.

Background: During the COVID-19 pandemic, the vulnerabilities of certain groups of people have been highlighted, such as people with intellectual disability (ID). Although related research on ID has developed rapidly during the COVID-19 pandemic, the quantitative analysis of those research results has not been systematically performed through bibliometric analysis. Bibliometric analysis is a useful and rigorous method to explore large volumes of research data, and it allows researchers to extract quantitative information on distribution by author, time, country, and journal. Aim: The aim of the present study is to comprehensively analyze the current status and developing trends in publications on ID research related to and conducted during the COVID-19 pandemic. Methods: A bibliometric analysis was performed using the Web of Science database. Biblioshiny software was used to analyze and visualize the following information: main information of dataset, annual scientific production, journals which published the most relevant sources, most-cited authors, most-cited countries, most-cited global documents, word-cloud of keywords authors have used, and both the co-occurrence and co-citation networks. Results: A total of 450 publications were included. The average number of citations per document was 5.104. Among the top three journals, Journal of Applied Research in Intellectual Disabilities published 32 articles, Journal of Intellectual Disability Research published 29 articles, and British Journal of Learning Disabilities published 17 articles. The article with the title COVID-19 and People with Intellectual Disability: Impact of a Pandemic was the most cited with total 144 citations The United Kingdom had the most publications and had strong cooperative relationships with the United States, Canada, and Australia. The most popular keywords included mental health, autism, developmental disability, and lockdown. Thematic map analysis identified several possible clusters, including telemedicine, physical activities, and mental health. Conclusion: The present study provides a better understanding in this research field and may help clinicians, researchers and stakeholders to obtain more comprehensive view of ID and COVID-19. The insights gained from this analysis could inform future research.

Perceived knowledge of psychiatry and family medicine residents regarding medical management of schizophrenia, hypertension, diabetes mellitus, and dyslipidemia: opportunities to refine the residency training.

BACKGROUND: Psychiatry and Family Medicine residents frequently see patients with comorbid mental and physical disorders. Little is known about the difference in knowledge of Psychiatry residents and Family Medicine residents regarding management of common conditions they encounter. This study aimed to assess the knowledge of Psychiatry and Family Medicine residents regarding medical management of schizophrenia, hypertension, diabetes mellitus, and dyslipidemia, as the findings could help to refine the training curriculum for residency training. METHODS: A cross-sectional survey design was used. Psychiatry and Family Medicine residents pursuing their residency in Singapore were recruited from November 2019 to June 2020. The survey questionnaire consisted of questions which assessed the knowledge regarding medical management of schizophrenia, hypertension, diabetes mellitus, and dyslipidemia. Descriptive statistics were used to describe the demographic data; T-tests or Mann-Whitney U tests to compare the differences between groups; and multiple regression analyses to assess the factors associated with Psychiatry residents' knowledge of hypertension, diabetes mellitus, and dyslipidemia. RESULTS: Fifty-seven out of 70 (81.4%) Psychiatry residents and 58 out of 61 (95.1%) Family Medicine residents participated in the study. The majority of Psychiatry residents encountered patients with hypertension (93.0%), diabetes mellitus (87.7%) and dyslipidemia (91.2%) on a daily to weekly basis. Psychiatry residents had higher scores on questions about schizophrenia versus Family Medicine residents (mean 50.70 versus 43.28, p < 0.001). However, Psychiatry residents scored lower on questions about hypertension (mean 33.86 versus 40.98, p < 0.001), diabetes mellitus (mean 45.68 versus 49.79, p = 0.005) and dyslipidemia (mean 37.04 versus 44.31, p < 0.001). Receiving undergraduate medical education locally, compared to receiving it overseas, was associated with better knowledge of hypertension (beta = 0.515, p = 0.009) and dyslipidemia (beta = 0.559, p = 0.005); while younger age (26-30 versus > 35 and 31-35 versus > 35) was associated with better knowledge of hypertension (beta = 1.361, p = 0.002 and beta = 1.225, p = 0.003). A significant proportion of Psychiatry residents (61.4%) did not agree that the training provided to manage hypertension, diabetes mellitus, and dyslipidemia was adequate. Similarly, majority of Family Medicine residents (62.1%) did not agree that they had adequate training to manage schizophrenia. CONCLUSIONS: This study raises the awareness of Psychiatry residents' sense of discomfort in managing hypertension, diabetes mellitus, or dyslipidemia and conversely Family Medicine residents in management of schizophrenia, which can be further addressed during the training postings within the residency programs. Future studies are needed to look at local (such as training curriculum) and systemic factors (such as practice trends and culture) in order to better align residency selection criteria and training foci with real world practice factors over time.

Preferences for methadone clinics among drug users in Vietnam: a comparison between public and private models.

BACKGROUND: Methadone maintenance treatment (MMT) has been proven to be effective in treating opioid dependence. In Vietnam, MMT services are provided primarily by public clinics, with only one private MMT clinic established in recent years. Assessing the preferences of patients for different MMT models is important in evaluating the feasibility of these models. This study measured the preferences of drug users enrolling in public and private MMT clinics in Vietnam and examines the related factors of these preferences. METHODS: A cross-sectional study was performed on 395 participants at 3 methadone clinics in Nam Dinh. Data about the preferences for MMT models and sociodemographic characteristics of participants were collected. Exploratory factor analysis was employed to explore the construct validity of the questionnaire. The chi-square test and Mann-Whitney test were used for analyzing demographic characteristics and preferences of participants. Multivariate logistic regression identified factors associated with participants' preferences. RESULTS: Half the participants received MMT treatment in a private facility (49.4%). Two preference dimensions were defined as "Availability and convenience of service" and "Competencies of clinic and health professionals". Self-employed patients were more likely to consider these two dimensions when choosing MMT models. Only 9.9% of participants chose "Privacy" as one of the evaluation criteria for an MMT facility. Compared to public clinics, a statistically higher percentage of patients in the private clinic chose the attitudes of health workers as the reason for using MMT service (34.7% and 7.6% respectively). Mean score of satisfaction towards MMT services was 8.6 (SD = 1.0), and this score was statistically higher in a public facility, compared to the private facility (8.7 and 8.4 respectively). CONCLUSIONS: The study highlighted patterns of patient preferences towards MMT clinics. Compared to the public MMT model, the private MMT model may need to enhance their services to improve patient satisfaction.

Making Sense of Negative Findings from Mobile Attention Bias Modification Interventions for Individuals with Addictive Disorders: Quantitative Feasibility Study.

BACKGROUND: Advances in experimental psychology have led to a better understanding of unconscious, automatic processes that result in individuals relapsing into their substance-using habits. While some reviews have demonstrated the effectiveness of bias retraining of these unconscious biases, there have been other reviews that have highlighted that bias retraining is not always effective. Other studies have revealed there was no baseline biases among some participants. An examination of mobile bias retraining interventions has also revealed mixed results, with some reporting effectiveness and others null findings. A recent feasibility and acceptability study, done by the authors, revealed that 53% of participants have had no baseline biases and 21% of those with positive baseline biases did not have a positive change in magnitude following intervention. OBJECTIVE: The aim of this paper was to explore potential variables (demographic and clinical) that could account for the negative baseline biases in the prior feasibility and acceptability study, and to discuss some of the factors that could account for the absence of baseline biases. We also explored potential reasons for why there was no reduction in the magnitude of attentional biases among individuals with baseline biases. METHODS: Participants who were in the rehabilitation phase of their treatment were invited to participate. During the study they had to complete a set of baseline questionnaires, and on each day that they were on the ward they had to complete an attention bias assessment and modification task and rate their cravings using a visual analogue scale. Attention bias was deemed to be present if individuals had a positive score. RESULTS: In our study, 53% (16/30) of individuals did not present with baseline attentional biases, and among those with positive baseline biases a total of 21% (3/14) of participants did not have a reduction in the overall magnitude of attentional biases. Chi-square analyses undertaken to compare the demographic characteristics of participants with and without baseline biases did not reveal any significant findings. However, with respect to clinical characteristics, those who had positive baseline biases had experimented with more substances. CONCLUSIONS: Our study is one of the first to have explored negative findings in attention bias modification interventions for individuals with addictive disorders. We postulate that several factors could account for the absence of baseline biases and there being no changes following bias retraining. Future research ought to take into consideration these factors.

Web-Based Cognitive Bias Modification Interventions for Psychiatric Disorders: Scoping Review.

BACKGROUND: Cognitive biases refer to automatic attentional or interpretational tendencies, which result in individuals with addictive disorders to automatically attend to substance-related stimuli and those with anxiety disorders to attend to threatening stimuli. To date, several studies have examined the efficacy of cognitive bias modification, and meta-analytical studies have synthesized the evidence for overall efficacy. The clinical utility of cognitive bias modification interventions has previously been limited to the confines of a laboratory, but recent advances in Web technologies can change this. OBJECTIVE: This scoping review aimed to determine the scope of Web-based cognitive bias interventions and highlight their effectiveness. METHODS: Databases (PubMed and MEDLINE, EMBASE, PsycINFO, ScienceDirect, and Cochrane Central) were searched from inception to December 5, 2017. The following search terminologies were used: ("attention bias" OR "cognitive bias" OR "approach bias" OR "avoidance bias" OR "interpretative bias") AND ("Internet" OR "Web" OR "Online"). The methods for this scoping review are based on the previously published protocol. For the synthesis of the evidence, a narrative synthesis was undertaken, as a meta-analysis was not appropriate, given the lack of reported effect sizes and the heterogeneity in the outcomes reported. RESULTS: Of the 2674 unique articles identified, we identified 22 randomized controlled studies that met our inclusion criteria: alcohol use disorder (n=2), tobacco use disorder (n=2), depressive disorder (n=3), anxiety and depressive symptoms in adolescents (n=3), obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD; n=2), social anxiety disorder (n=9), and anxiety disorder (n=1). The sample sizes of these studies ranged from 16 to 434 participants. There is preliminary evidence to suggest that Web-based interventions could reduce biases among adolescents with heightened symptoms of anxiety and depression and among individuals with OCD. CONCLUSIONS: This is the first scoping review that mapped out the scope of cognitive bias modification interventions for psychiatric disorders. Web-based interventions have been applied predominantly for social anxiety and addictive disorders. Larger cohorts must be used in future studies to better determine the effectiveness of Web-based cognitive bias interventions. INTERNATIONAL REGISTERED REPORT IDENTIFIER (IRRID): RR1-10.2196/10427.

A Smartphone Attention Bias App for Individuals With Addictive Disorders: Feasibility and Acceptability Study.

BACKGROUND: Conventional psychology therapies are unable to address automatic biases that result in individuals relapsing into their substance use disorder. Advances in experimental psychology have led to a better understanding of attention and approach biases and methods to modify these biases. Several studies have demonstrated the effectiveness of bias modification among clinical cohorts. The advances in mobile health technologies have allowed remote delivery of these interventions. To date, there is a lack of studies examining bias modification in a substance-using non-Western sample. OBJECTIVE: This study was designed to determine the feasibility of an attention bias modification intervention and an attention bias modification smartphone app for the reduction of attention biases among treatment-seeking individuals. The secondary aim is to determine the acceptability of the intervention. METHODS: A feasibility study was conducted among inpatients who were in their rehabilitation phase at the National Addictions Management Service. Participants were to complete a set of baseline questionnaires, and on each day that they are in the study, undertake an attention bias assessment and modification task while completing a visual analogue scale to assess their craving. Feasibility was determined by the acceptance rate of participation and participants' adherence to the interventions. Acceptability was assessed by a perception questionnaire. Descriptive statistical analyses were performed using SPSS version 22. A thematic analysis approach was used in the qualitative synthesis of users' perceptions. RESULTS: Of the 40 participants invited to participate in the feasibility study, 10 declined, yielding an acceptance rate of 75%. Of the recruited participants, 6 participants were diagnosed with alcohol dependence; 17, with opioid dependence; 2, with cannabis dependence; and 5, with stimulant dependence. In addition, of the final 30 participants, 11 (37%) failed to complete all the planned interventions and 22 (73%) completed the perspective questionnaires; of these 22 participants, 100% rated the app as extremely and very easy, 77% rated it as extremely or very interactive, 54% rated it as extremely or very motivating, and 33% reported a change in their confidence levels. CONCLUSIONS: Our results highlight the feasibility of recruiting participants to undertake attention bias modification interventions. Participants generally accept use of a mobile version of such an intervention. Nevertheless, our acceptability data indicate that there could be improvements in the existing app, and a participatory design approach might be helpful in its future conceptualization. INTERNATIONAL REGISTERED REPORT IDENTIFIER (IRRID): RR2-10.2196/11822.

Validity and Utility of the Center for Epidemiological Studies Depression Scale for Detecting Depression in Family Caregivers of Persons with Dementia.

BACKGROUND/AIMS: The psychometric properties of Center for Epidemiological Studies Depression Scale (CES-D) have never been substantively investigated in caregivers of persons with dementia (PwD). We evaluated the validity and reliability of CES-D for detecting caregiver depression in dementia, and assessed whether CES-D could provide added utility beyond Zarit Burden Interview (ZBI). METHOD: Family caregivers of community-dwelling PwD (n = 394) completed self-administered questionnaires containing CES-D. Factorial validity was evaluated with confirmatory factor analysis; convergent and discriminant validity with Pearson's correlation coefficient; known-group validity by comparing across key variables; and internal consistency reliability with Cronbach's α. Cohen's κ was used to compare the agreement between those with depression (CES-D ≥16) and those with high caregiver burden (ZBI >60). RESULTS: CES-D demonstrated convergent, discriminant and known-group validity, consistent with a priori hypotheses. The original four-factor model of CES-D produced the best model-fit indices. Internal consistency reliability was good for the CES-D total scale (α = 0.92), but lower for the Positive affect and Interpersonal problems subscales (α = 0.70-0.74). Forty-five percent of the caregivers had depression as identified by CES-D (95% CI 40-50%), but most of them were not identified by high ZBI scores (κ = 0.16). CONCLUSIONS: CES-D is a valid and reliable scale for detecting caregiver depression in dementia. It has added utility, beyond that of a caregiver burden scale, in identifying a subgroup of caregivers with depression but not burden. However, two subscales (Positive affect and Interpersonal problems) may require caution in interpretation among non-Caucasian caregivers.

Depression among Patients with HIV/AIDS: Research Development and Effective Interventions (GAPRESEARCH).

Depression in people living with HIV (PLWH) has become an urgent issue and has attracted the attention of both physicians and epidemiologists. Currently, 39% of HIV patients are reported to suffer from depression. This population is more likely to experience worsening disease states and, thus, poorer health outcomes. In this study, we analyzed research growth and current understandings of depression among HIV-infected individuals. The number of papers and their impacts have been considerably grown in recent years, and a total of 4872 publications published from 1990-2017 were retrieved from the Web of Science database. Research landscapes related to this research field include risk behaviors and attributable causes of depression in HIV population, effects of depression on health outcomes of PLWH, and interventions and health services for these particular subjects. We identified a lack of empirical studies in countries where PLWH face a high risk of depression, and a modest level of interest in biomedical research. By demonstrating these research patterns, highlighting the research gaps and putting forward implications, this study provides a basis for future studies and interventions in addressing the critical issue of HIV epidemics.

Incorporating Participatory Action Research in Attention Bias Modification Interventions for Addictive Disorders: Perspectives.

Participatory action research was introduced in the 1960s and early 1970s, but it has only been more widely adopted in the recent years. Such methodologies have since been applied to several web & mobile-based interventions in psychiatry. To date no prior review has scoped the extent of the application of such methodologies for web & mobile-based interventions in psychiatry. In this article, a scoping literature review was performed, and seven articles have been identified. The most common methodologies are that of co-design workshops; and increasingly service users and participants are included in these workshops. There remains a lack of application of such methodologies for addiction research. Increasingly, attention and cognitive bias modification interventions are more commonplace, given that they have been found to be effective in modifying underlying biases amongst individuals with addictive disorders. Unfortunately, there remains to be inherent limitations with web and mobile versions of attention and cognitive bias modification interventions. Participatory design research methods could help address these limitations and future research involving the conceptualization of new attention or cognitive bias modification applications ought to consider the incorporation of these research methods.

A Smartphone Attention Bias Intervention for Individuals With Addictive Disorders: Protocol for a Feasibility Study.

BACKGROUND: Substance use disorders are highly prevalent globally. Relapse rates following conventional psychological interventions for substance use disorders remain high. Recent reviews have highlighted attentional and approach or avoidance biases to be responsible for multiple relapses. Other studies have reported the efficacy of interventions to modify biases. With advances in technologies, there are now mobile versions of conventional bias modification interventions. However, to date, no study has evaluated bias modification in a substance-using, non-Western sample. Existing evaluations of mobile technologies for the delivery of bias interventions are also limited to alcohol or tobacco use disorders. OBJECTIVE: This study aims to examine the feasibility of mobile-based attention bias modification intervention among treatment-seeking individuals with substance use and alcohol use disorders. METHODS: This is a feasibility study, in which inpatients who are in their rehabilitation phase of clinical management will be recruited. On each day that they are in the study, they will be required to complete a craving visual analogue scale and undertake both a visual probe-based assessment and and modification task in a smartphone app . Reaction time data will be collated for the computation of baseline attentional biases and to determine whether there is a reduction of attentional bias across the interventions. Feasibility will be determined by the number of participants recruited and participants' adherence to the planned interventions up until the completion of their rehabilitation program and by the ability of the app in detecting baseline biases and changes in biases. Acceptability of the intervention will be assessed by a short questionnaire of users' perceptions of the intervention. Statistical analyses will be performed using SPSS version 22.0, while qualitative analysis of the perspectives will be performed using NVivo version 10.0. RESULTS: This study was approved by the National Healthcare Group Domain Specific Research Board, with approval number (2018/00316). Results will be disseminated by means of conferences and publications.Currently, we are in the process of recruitment for this study. CONCLUSIONS: To the best of our knowledge, this is the first study to evaluate the feasibility and acceptability of a mobile attention bias modification intervention for individuals with substance use disorders. The data pertaining to the feasibility and acceptability are undoubtedly crucial because they imply the potential use of mobile technologies in retraining attentional biases among inpatients admitted for medical-assisted detoxification and rehabilitation. Participants' feedback pertaining to the ease of use, interactivity, and motivation to continue using the app is crucial because it will determine whether a codesign approach might be warranted to design an app that is acceptable for participants and that participants themselves would be motivated to use. INTERNATIONAL REGISTERED REPORT IDENTIFIER (IRRID): PRR1-10.2196/11822.

Gamified Cognitive Bias Interventions for Psychiatric Disorders: Protocol of a Systematic Review.

BACKGROUND: Cognitive bias modification has been increasingly studied in the past decade with reviews reporting the effectiveness of bias modification. Advances in electronic health and mobile health technologies have transformed how conventional cognitive bias modification is delivered. To date, gamification technologies and serious games have been widely evaluated in health care, and prior studies have reported the use of gamification for cognitive bias modification. However, no prior research, to date, has systematically evaluated the literature for gamified cognitive bias modification interventions. OBJECTIVE: The proposed systematic review aims to review how gamification has been applied to cognitive bias modification interventions. METHODS: A systematic review will be conducted. A search will be conducted on the respective databases till 2018. Selection of the studies will be determined by the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis guidelines. Quality assessment of the included studies will be assessed using the Cochrane Risk of Bias Tool. In addition, a narrative synthesis will be conducted. RESULTS: We expect that the review will be completed 12 months from the publication of this protocol. CONCLUSIONS: The findings that arise from this review will be crucial as they will inform future research that seeks to integrate gamification technologies into existing conventional bias modification interventions. REGISTERED REPORT IDENTIFIER: RR1-10.2196/10154.

Gamified Cognitive Bias Modification Interventions for Psychiatric Disorders: Review.

BACKGROUND: Automatic biases, such as attentional biases and avoidance and interpretative biases, have been purported to be responsible for several psychiatric disorders. Gamification has been considered for cognitive bias modification, mainly to address the core issues of diminishing motivation to train over time, as bias modification intervention tasks tend to be highly repetitive. While a prior review has suggested how gamification strategies could be applied to such tasks, there remains a lack of systematic evaluation of gamified cognitive bias modification interventions in the literature. OBJECTIVE: The objective of this review is to understand the overall effectiveness of a gamified approach for cognitive bias modification and inform future research that seeks to integrate gamification technologies into existing conventional bias modification interventions. METHODS: To identify the relevant articles for our review, the following search terminologies were used: ("cognitive bias" OR "attention bias" OR "interpret* bias" OR "approach bias" OR "avoidance bias") AND ("training" OR "modification" OR "practice" OR "therapy") AND ("gamification" OR "game elements" OR "game" OR "gaming" OR "game mechanics"). PubMed, MEDLINE, PsycINFO, and Scopus databases were searched systematically for articles published after 2000. Articles were included if they described a gamified cognitive bias modification task and included participants with underlying psychopathological symptoms. Data were systematically extracted from the identified articles, and a qualitative synthesis was performed. RESULTS: Four studies evaluated gamified cognitive bias modification interventions. Two studies included participants with anxiety symptoms, one with affective symptoms, and one with alcohol problems. The conventional visual probe task paradigm was used in 3 studies, and the attentional visual search task paradigm was used in the last study. We found gaming elements incorporated to include that of animations, sounds, feedback, and a point-scoring system for response time and difficulty. Of the 4 identified studies, only 2 reported their gamified interventions to be effective. CONCLUSIONS: Our review is the first to systematically synthesize the evidence for gamified cognitive bias modification interventions. The results arising from our review should be considered in the future design and conceptualization of gamified cognitive bias modification interventions. INTERNATIONAL REGISTERED REPORT IDENTIFIER (IRRID): RR2-10.2196/10154.

Web-Based Cognitive Bias Intervention for Psychiatric Disorders: Protocol for a Systematic Review.

BACKGROUND: Traditional psychological therapies focus mainly on modification of individuals' conscious decision-making process. Unconscious processes, such as cognitive biases, have been found accountable for various psychiatric psychopathologies, and advances in technologies have transformed how bias modification programs are being delivered. OBJECTIVE: The primary aim of this review is to synthesize evidence of Web-based cognitive bias modification intervention for bias reduction. The secondary aim is to determine the change in symptoms for individual psychiatric disorders following bias modification. METHODS: A systematic review will be conducted including only randomized trials. There will be no restrictions on participants included in the study. A search will be conducted on the respective databases until 2017. Selection of studies will be by the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Review and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA-P) guidelines. Quality assessment of included studies will be conducted using the Cochrane Risk of Bias tool. A narrative synthesis of identified articles will then be conducted. A meta-analysis will be considered only if there are sufficient articles in a domain for statistical analysis. Ethical approval for this protocol and the planned systematic review was not required. RESULTS: We expect that the review will be completed 12 months from publication of this protocol. CONCLUSIONS: This review is of importance given how technology has transformed delivery of conventional therapies. Findings from this review will guide future research involving technology and cognitive bias modification interventions. TRIAL REGISTRATION: International Prospective Register for Systematic Reviews (PROSPERO): 2017 CRD42017074754; https://www.crd.york.ac.uk/prospero/display_record.php?RecordID=74754 (Archived by WebCite at http://www.webcitation.org/ 71AvSgZGn). REGISTERED REPORT IDENTIFIER: RR1-10.2196/10427.

Cognitive Biases in Cannabis, Opioid, and Stimulant Disorders: A Systematic Review.

Background: Opiates, cannabis, and stimulants are highly abused and are prevalent disorders. Psychological interventions are crucial given that they help individuals maintain abstinence following a lapse or relapse into substance use. The dual-process theory has posited that while the repeated use of a substance leads to increased automatic processing and increased automatic tendencies to approach substance-specific cues, in addition to the inhibition of other normal cognitive processes. Prior reviews are limited, as they failed to include trials involving participants with these prevalent addictive disorders or have not reviewed the published literature extensively. Objectives: The primary aim of this review is to synthesize the evidence for cognitive biases in opioid use, cannabis use, and stimulant use disorders. The secondary aim of the review is to determine if cognitive bias could be consistently detected using the different methods. Lastly, this review will narratively synthesize the evidence of possible associations between cognitive biases and other addiction-related outcomes. Methods: A search was conducted from November 2017 to January 2018 on PubMed, MEDLINE, Embase, PsycINFO, Science Direct, Cochrane Central, and Scopus. Articles were included if participants had a primary diagnosis of opioid use, cannabis use, or stimulant use disorder. The selection process of the articles was in accordance with the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analysis guidelines. A qualitative synthesis was undertaken. Results: A total of 38 studies were identified. The main finding is the evidence that cognitive biases are present in the 38 studies identified, except for a single study on opioid use and stimulant use disorders. Cognitive biases were reported despite a variety of different methods being utilized. Synthesis of secondary outcome was not feasible, due to the varied outcomes reported. Conclusions: Cognitive biases have been consistently observed in opioid use, cannabis use, and stimulant use disorders, despite a range of assessment tools being utilized in the assessment for these biases.