Active Ingredients and Mechanisms of Change in Motivational Interviewing for Medication Adherence. A Mixed Methods Study of Patient-Therapist Interaction in Patients With Schizophrenia.

BACKGROUND: Trials studying Motivational Interviewing (MI) to improve medication adherence in patients with schizophrenia showed mixed results. Moreover, it is unknown which active MI-ingredients are associated with mechanisms of change in patients with schizophrenia. To enhance the effect of MI for patients with schizophrenia, we studied MI's active ingredients and its working mechanisms. METHODS: First, based on MI literature, we developed a model of potential active ingredients and mechanisms of change of MI in patients with schizophrenia. We used this model in a qualitative multiple case study to analyze the application of the active ingredients and the occurrence of mechanisms of change. We studied the cases of fourteen patients with schizophrenia who participated in a study on the effect of MI on medication adherence. Second, we used the Generalized Sequential Querier (GSEQ 5.1) to perform a sequential analysis of the MI-conversations aiming to assess the transitional probabilities between therapist use of MI-techniques and subsequent patient reactions in terms of change talk and sustain talk. RESULTS: We found the therapist factor "a trusting relationship and empathy" important to enable sufficient depth in the conversation to allow for the opportunity of triggering mechanisms of change. The most important conversational techniques we observed that shape the hypothesized active ingredients are reflections and questions addressing medication adherent behavior or intentions, which approximately 70% of the time was followed by "patient change talk". Surprisingly, sequential MI-consistent therapist behavior like "affirmation" and "emphasizing control" was only about 6% of the time followed by patient change talk. If the active ingredients were embedded in more comprehensive MI-strategies they had more impact on the mechanisms of change. CONCLUSIONS: Mechanisms of change mostly occurred after an interaction of active ingredients contributed by both therapist and patient. Our model of active ingredients and mechanisms of change enabled us to see "MI at work" in the MI-sessions under study, and this model may help practitioners to shape their MI-strategies to a potentially more effective MI.

Medication adherence in patients with schizophrenia: a qualitative study of the patient process in motivational interviewing.

BACKGROUND: Motivational interviewing (MI) may be an effective intervention to improve medication adherence in patients with schizophrenia. However, for this patient group, mixed results have been found in randomized controlled trials. Furthermore, the process of becoming (more) motivated for long-term medication adherence in patients with schizophrenia is largely unexplored. METHOD: We performed a qualitative multiple case study of MI-sessions to analyse the interaction process affecting motivation in patients with schizophrenia. Fourteen cases of patients with schizophrenia, who recently experienced a psychotic relapse after medication-nonadherence, were studied, comprising 66 audio-recorded MI-sessions. In the MI-sessions, the patients expressed their cognitions on medication. We used these cognitions to detect the different courses (or patterns) of the patients' ambivalence during the MI-intervention. We distinguished successful and unsuccessful cases, and used the cross-case-analysis to identify success factors to reach positive effects of MI. RESULTS: Based on the expressed cognitions on medication, we found four different patterns of the patient process. We also found three success factors for the intervention, which were a trusting relationship between patient and therapist, the therapist's ability to adapt his MI-strategy to the patient's process, and relating patient values to long-term medication adherence. CONCLUSIONS: The success of an MI-intervention for medication adherence in patients with schizophrenia can be explained by well-defined success factors. Adherence may improve if therapists consider these factors during MI-sessions.

Nursing Staff Factors Contributing to Seclusion in Acute Mental Health Care - An Explorative Cohort Study.

BACKGROUND: Seclusion is a controversial intervention. Efficacy with regard to aggressive behaviour has not been demonstrated, and seclusion is only justified for preventing safety hazards. Previous studies indicate that nursing staff factors may be predictors for seclusion, although methodological issues may have led to equivocal results. OBJECTIVE: To perform a prospective cohort study to determine whether nursing staff characteristics are associated with seclusion of adult inpatients admitted to a closed psychiatric ward. METHOD: We studied the association between nurses' demographics and incidence of seclusion during every shift. Data were collected during five months in 2013. Multiple logistic regression was used for analysis. RESULTS: In univariable analysis, we found a non-significant association between seclusion and female gender, odds ratio (OR) = 5.27 (0.98-28.49) and a significant association between seclusion and nurses' large physical stature, OR = 0.21 (0.06-0.72). We found that physical stature is the most substantial factor, although not significant: ORadjusted = 0.27 (0.07-1.04). CONCLUSION: Nurses' gender may be a predictor for seclusion, but it seems to be mediated by the effect of physical stature. We used a rigorous, census-based, prospective design to collect data on a highly detailed level and found a large effect of physical stature of nurses on seclusion. We found nurses' physical stature to be the most substantial predictor for seclusion. These and other factors need to be explored in further research with larger sample size.

Processing of facial and nonsocial information is differentially associated with severity of symptoms in patients with multiepisode schizophrenia.

Patients with schizophrenia show impairments in social cognitive abilities, such as recognizing facial emotions. However, the relation to symptoms remains unclear. The goal of this study was to explore whether facial emotion recognition and face identity recognition are associated with severity of symptoms and to which extent associations with symptoms differ for processing of social versus nonsocial information. Facial emotion recognition, face recognition, and abstract pattern recognition were evaluated in 98 patients with multiepisode schizophrenia. Severity of symptoms was measured using a five-factor model of the Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale. Results show that facial emotion recognition and, to a lesser extent, face recognition were predominantly associated with severity of disorganization symptoms. In contrast, recognition of nonsocial patterns was associated with negative symptoms, excitement, and emotional distress. Reaction time rather than accuracy of social cognition explained variance in symptomatology. These results lead to the conclusion that facial emotion processing in schizophrenia appears to be associated with severity of symptoms, especially disorganization.

Specificity of facial emotion recognition impairments in patients with multi-episode schizophrenia.

BACKGROUND: Patients with schizophrenia show impairments in social information processing, such as recognising facial emotions and face identity. GOAL: The aim of this study was to explore whether these impairments represent specific deficits or are part of a more general cognitive dysfunction. METHOD: Forty-two patients with schizophrenia and 42 matched controls were compared on facial emotion and face identity recognition versus (non-social) abstract pattern recognition, using three tasks of the Amsterdam Neuropsychological Tasks (ANT) program. RESULTS: Patients were slower than controls in social information processing as well as in (non-social) abstract pattern recognition. Patients were also less accurate than controls in processing social information, but not in recognition of abstract patterns. Differences between patients and controls were most substantial for facial emotion recognition compared to both face identity recognition (speed) and non-social pattern recognition (speed and accuracy). Finally, differences between patients and controls were largest for the recognition of negative emotions. CONCLUSION: Compared to controls patients with schizophrenia displayed more difficulties in processing of social information compared to non-social information. These results support the hypothesis that facial emotion recognition impairment is a relatively distinct entity within the domain of cognitive dysfunction in schizophrenia.

Selecting an optimal instrument to identify active ingredients of the motivational interviewing-process.

OBJECTIVE: Motivational Interviewing (MI) can effectively stimulate motivation for health behavior change, but the active ingredients of MI are not well known. To help clinicians further stimulate motivation, they need to know the active ingredients of MI. A psychometrically sound instrument is required to identify those ingredients. The purpose of this study is to describe and evaluate the capability of existing instruments to reliably measure one or more potential active ingredients in the MI process between clients and MI-therapists. METHODS: We systematically searched MedLine, Embase, Cinahl, PsycInfo, Cochrane Central, specialised websites and reference lists of selected articles. RESULTS: We found 406 papers, 60 papers were retrieved for further evaluation, based on prespecified criteria. Seventeen instruments that were specifically designed to measure MI or aspects of MI were identified. Fifteen papers met all inclusion criteria, and reported on seven instruments that assess potential active ingredients of the interactive MI process. The capability of these instruments to measure potential active ingredients in detail and as a part of the interactive MI process varies considerably. Three of these instruments measure one or more potential active ingredients in a reliable and valid way. CONCLUSION: To identify the potential active ingredients in the interactive MI process, a combination of the SCOPE (which measures potential technical active ingredients) and the GROMIT or the global ratings of the MISC2 (to measure potential relational ingredients) seems favourable.

The effect of motivational interviewing on medication adherence and hospitalization rates in nonadherent patients with multi-episode schizophrenia.

BACKGROUND: Medication nonadherence in patients with schizophrenia presents a serious clinical problem. Research on interventions incorporating motivational interviewing (MI) to improve adherence have shown mixed results. AIMS: Primary aim is to determine the effectiveness of a MI intervention on adherence and hospitalization rates in patients, with multi-episode schizophrenia or schizoaffective disorder, who have experienced a psychotic relapse following medication nonadherence. Secondary aim is to evaluate whether MI is more effective in specific subgroups. METHODS: We performed a randomized controlled study including 114 patients who experienced a psychotic relapse due to medication nonadherence in the past year. Participants received an adapted form of MI or an active control intervention, health education (HE). Both interventions consisted of 5-8 sessions, which patients received in adjunction to the care as usual. Patients were assessed at baseline and at 6 and 12 months follow-up. RESULTS: Our results show that MI did not improve medication adherence in previously nonadherent patients who experienced a psychotic relapse. Neither were there significant differences in hospitalization rates at follow-up between MI and HE (27% vs 40%, P = .187). However, MI resulted in reduced hospitalization rates for female patients (9% vs 63%, P = .041), non-cannabis users (20% vs 53%, P = .041), younger patients (14% vs 50%, P = .012), and patients with shorter illness duration (14% vs 42%, P = .040). CONCLUSIONS: Targeted use of MI may be of benefit for improving medication adherence in certain groups of patients, although this needs further examination.

The Amsterdam Studies of Acute Psychiatry - II (ASAP-II): a comparative study of psychiatric intensive care units in the Netherlands.

BACKGROUND: The number of patients in whom mental illness progresses to stages in which acute, and often forced treatment is warranted, is on the increase across Europe. As a consequence, more patients are involuntarily admitted to Psychiatric Intensive Care Units (PICU). From several studies and reports it has become evident that important dissimilarities exist between PICU's. The current study seeks to describe organisational as well as clinical and patient related factors across ten PICU's in and outside the Amsterdam region, adjusted for or stratified by level of urbanization. METHOD/DESIGN: This paper describes the design of the Amsterdam Studies of Acute Psychiatry II (ASAP-II). This study is a prospective observational cohort study comparing PICU's in and outside the Amsterdam region on various patient characteristics, treatment aspects and recovery related variables. Dissimilarities were measured by means of collecting standardized forms which were filled out in the framework of care as usual, by means of questionnaires filled out by mental health care professionals and by means of extracting data from patient files for every consecutive patient admitted at participating PICU's during a specific time period. Urbanization levels for every PICU were calculated conform procedures as proposed by the Dutch Central Bureau for Statistics (CBS). DISCUSSION: The current study may provide a deeper understanding of the differences between psychiatric intensive care units that can be used to promote best practice and benchmarking procedures, and thus improve the standard of care.