Psychiatric Risk Factors and Burn Severity in Self-Immolation.

Self-immolation, a form of self-harm involving setting oneself on fire, is associated with high mortality, morbidity, and healthcare burden. This study aimed to characterize potential clinical correlates and predisposing factors for self-immolation based on burn severity using Total Body Surface Area (TBSA) percentage scoring. Additional objectives included identifying motivational elements, associated risk factors, and clinical characteristics to optimize patient care and reduce future self-immolation incidents. A retrospective review of admissions to the Arizona Burn Center from July 2015 to August 2022 identified 103 self-immolation patients for the study. Burn severity was categorized as mild to moderate (TBSA < 20%) or severe (TBSA ≥ 20%) based on TBSA. This study population had a mortality rate of 21%. Positive urine drug screens were found in 44% of subjects, and 63% having chronic substance use, with methamphetamine (37%) and alcohol (30%) being the most prevalent. Underlying psychiatric illnesses were present in 83% of patients. Suicidal intent strongly predicted severe burns (p < 0.001) among the 68 severe burn cases identified. In conclusion, this study emphasizes that the presence of suicidal intent among self-immolation patients significantly correlates with burn severity. These findings highlight the importance of involving psychiatric services early in patient care to improve outcomes and reduce the recurrence of self-immolation acts.

Medical events in SARS-Cov-2 infected psychiatric inpatients with and without pre-existing co-morbid medical conditions.

SARS-CoV-2 (COVID-19) infection can be associated with significant medical complications. This risk could be even higher in psychiatric patients due to an increased risk of medical co-morbidity. In addition, psychiatric patients are also vulnerable to acquiring SARS-CoV2 infection due to homelessness, living in crowded areas, and poor adherence to recommended preventive measures. This retrospective study aims to compare two groups of patients, namely COVID-19 positive inpatient psychiatric patients with and without preexisting medical comorbidity on specific clinical and socio-demographic features and more importantly how many patients in the two groups subsequently developed medical complications. All COVID-19 positive psychiatric patients who were admitted to acute psychiatric inpatient units over a one-year period during the peri-pandemic phase were included for this study. Data was collected from the electronic medical records of 174 patients admitted to the inpatient psychiatric facility between January and December 2020. Among the COVID-19 positive patients, twenty individuals out of eighty-nine in the WC (with pre-existing medical comorbidity) group and two individuals out of eighty-five in the WOC (without pre-existing medical comorbidity) group developed COVID-related pneumonia. Ten WC patients and two WOC patients required supplemental oxygen, while only one patient in the WC group developed critical illness and required ventilatory support. The WC group had longer stay in both psychiatric and medical units compared to the WOC group. Consistent with existing literature that patients with comorbid medical condition are higher risk of COVID-19 complications, this study replicates the finding that in psychiatric inpatients pre-existing comorbid medical conditions create a higher risk of experiencing COVID-19 related medical complications. More interestingly, however that increased risk of developing new medical complications was not significantly different from the published rates observed in the general population which is surprising given how vulnerable psychiatric patients are, both medical, psychiatrically and psychosocially. In fact, in some ways and for reasons as yet unclear, the medical complication rate was slightly better in the WC compared to published data in the general population groups.

Post Treatment Mastalgia is a Common Complaint but not an Indication of Recurrence or Second Primary Breast Cancer.

BACKGROUND: Post-treatment mastalgia is a common complaint in up to 68% of patients after treatment. This symptom is worrisome to patients as many believe it is a sign of recurrence. The current study was performed to evaluate if post-treatment mastalgia is associated with a second breast cancer diagnosis. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Patients included were seen from January 1, 2000 to December 31, 2020. All patients who were treated for breast cancer and then presented with breast pain during follow up were considered to have post-treatment mastalgia. All patients who were diagnosed with a second breast cancer but did not experience post-treatment mastalagia were also evaluated. RESULTS: 1799 patients had a mean age 52.9 years. 36% of patients experienced post-treatment mastalgia. Of patients who complained of post-treatment mastalgia, 19 were diagnosed with a chest wall recurrence (CW), ipsilateral breast tumor recurrence (IBTR), or contralateral breast cancer (CBC). 17 of the 19 patients had breast pain after the second diagnosis and treatment were completed. The average duration between their second diagnosis and initial complaint of breast pain was 6.2 years. The two patients who complained of breast pain prior to their second diagnosis did not have mastalgia at the time of their second diagnosis. Local recurrence or contralateral breast cancer were more common in patients without post treatment mastalgia (10.1% vs 0.3%, p < 0.0001) during follow up. CONCLUSION: Post treatment mastalgia is not associated with recurrence. Interval or repeat imaging does not appear necessary and instead patient education and reassurance are important in its management.

Risk factors for rehospitalization for patients following release from court-ordered evaluation: A retrospective study.

We have noticed an increase in the number of patients who go through the court-ordered evaluation (COE) process but are not placed on a court-ordered treatment, and who then return to the hospital on another COE petition within one year from their initial discharge. The aim of this study is to examine what factors might be involved in rehospitalization in this population of psychiatric patients. The records of 146 readmitted patients and 146 randomized patients not readmitted were compared for various risk factors. Data were analyzed using univariate and mutivariate procedures. All patients who had diagnoses of substance-induced mood or psychotic disorders were readmitted within one year. Other risk factors included younger age, seriously mentally ill (SMI) status, longer length of stay and having a psychotic or schizophrenia spectrum disorder. Substance-induced mood or psychotic disorder may play significant roles for patients who are rehospitalized within a year of initial COE.

Prescription Drug Monitoring Programs: Does the Arizona CSPMP Provide More Information than Routinely Collected in an Inpatient Psychiatric Facility?

BACKGROUND: Prescription drug monitoring programs (PDMPs) have been implemented as tools to help identify misuse of prescription medications. There has been mixed data regarding the efficacy of PDMP, and physician attitudes towards it vary. In an inpatient psychiatric hospital, history of substance use, including prescription medications, and results of urine drug screens (UDS) are obtained during the admission interview. OBJECTIVES: The aim was to determine if the substance use history and UDS are sufficient to identify substance use as compared to information obtained by Arizona's Controlled Substance Prescription Monitoring Program (CSPMP) in an inpatient setting. METHODS: A prospective chart review was completed on all newly admitted patients to the behavioral units within a 30-day period to identify those that had substance use disorder. CSPMP records were checked for all subjects for patterns of misuse. The test results were not normally distributed, so non-parametric tests were chosen for analyses. RESULTS: Of the 220 patients admitted, 127 patients had a substance use diagnosis. Out of the 127 patients, 67(30.5 %) were diagnosed with either opioid, benzodiazepine or amphetamine and stimulant use disorder. Of the 125 (56.8%) patients who had a substance use disorder, the substance abuse diagnosis had been made by the psychiatrist in the medical chart. CSPMP identified only 2 (0.8%) additional patients that were missed during the intake. CONCLUSIONS: The CSPMP provided little benefit to improving substance abuse detection when compared with the clinical interview and UDS results. This is attributed to the comprehensive evaluation done during the intake.

Assessment of inpatient psychiatric readmission risk among patients discharged on an antipsychotic polypharmacy regimen: A retrospective cohort study.

OBJECTIVE: Patients are frequently prescribed multiple antipsychotic medications, leading to higher healthcare costs and increased risk for side effects. The efficacy of multiple versus single antipsychotics to prevent acute relapse, measured by incidence of inpatient readmission, is investigated in Arizona, USA. METHOD: A retrospective chart review compared socio-demographic and clinical data from 1,010 patients discharged on a single and 377 discharged on multiple antipsychotic medications. Case management records were reviewed for readmission within one year of discharge. RESULTS: Younger age, diagnosis of Schizophrenia or Schizoaffective Disorder, prescription of mood stabilizer, shorter length of stay, and discharge to residential treatment or crisis recovery unit were associated with multiple antipsychotics at discharge. Readmission rates of the single (13.7%) versus multiple (15.9%) antipsychotic groups were not statistically different (p=0.286). Logistic regression analysis established that only age (younger) and the prescription of a mood stabilizer at discharge were significant predictors for increased risk for readmission (p=0.010 and p=0.049, respectively). A Cox survival analysis supported these findings. CONCLUSIONS: Concomitant antipsychotic polypharmacy at discharge did not reduce readmission risk over a one-year period. Given the increased risk of side effects and financial costs of polypharmacy, this study did not provide evidence to support this practice. Strikingly, only two variables predicted readmission risk, younger age and prescription of mood stabilizer. Although practitioners should follow practice guidelines more closely to prevent unnecessary exposure to potentially lethal side effects of antipsychotic polypharmacy, further studies are needed to better identify patients at high risk for readmission.

Voluntariness to consent to research in a voluntarily and involuntarily hospitalized psychiatric population.

The purpose of our study was to examine rates of consent to participate in research in voluntarily and involuntarily hospitalized psychiatric patients in order to evaluate factors that may influence the decision to participate in research. We used logistic regression models to evaluate differences and found that involuntary patients were less likely to consent to participate. After adjustment for covariates, we found that consent rates did not differ between the involuntary and voluntary population, but that lower Global Assessment of Functioning (GAF) scores and psychosis negatively affected the decision to consent to research. We discuss the implications of our findings.

Civil commitment outcomes of incompetent defendants.

In Maricopa County, Arizona, most defendants who are found not competent and not restorable (NCNR) are admitted involuntarily to an acute-care inpatient hospital. Many of these patients would most likely not have met the State's usual admission criteria for acute inpatient care had they not been evaluated in relation to a criminal offense. Is this group treated differently from their peers who are not involved in the criminal justice system? We examined records for 293 NCNR admissions, retrospectively, to assess their admission status and the outcomes of their commitment. We compared them to 280 matched cases of patients admitted involuntarily from the community (non-NCNR). The NCNR group met fewer admission criteria and received court-ordered treatment (COT) 22 percent more often than did the non-NCNR patients. The NCNR patients had longer hospital stays despite being found less dangerous to themselves or others than the community sample. Results suggest that NCNR individuals are treated differently from non-NCNR patients.

Feasibility and cost-effectiveness of standardised second-line drug treatment for chronic tuberculosis patients: a national cohort study in Peru.

BACKGROUND: There are no data on the feasibility and cost-effectiveness of using second-line drugs to treat patients with chronic tuberculosis, many of whom are infected with multidrug resistant (MDR) strains of Mycobacterium tuberculosis, in low or middle-income countries. METHODS: A national programme to treat chronic tuberculosis patients with a directly observed standardised 18-month daily regimen, consisting of kanamycin (3 months only), ciprofloxacin, ethionamide, pyrazinamide, and ethambutol, was established in Peru in 1997. Compliance and treatment outcomes were analysed for the cohort started on treatment between October, 1997, and March, 1999. Total and average costs were assessed. Cost-effectiveness was estimated as the cost per DALY gained. FINDINGS: 466 patients were enrolled; 344 were tested for drug susceptibility and 298 (87%) had MDR tuberculosis. 225 patients (48%) were cured, 57 (12%) died, 131 (28%) did not respond to treatment, and 53 (11%) defaulted. Of the 413 (89%) patients who complied with treatment, 225 (55%) were cured. Among MDR patients, resistance to five or more drugs was significantly associated with an unfavourable outcome (death, non-response to treatment, or default; odds ratio 3.37, 95% CI 1.32-8.60; p=0.01). The programme cost US $0.6 million per year, 8% of the National Tuberculosis Programme budget, and US $2381 per patient for those who completed treatment. The mean cost per DALY gained was $211 ($165 at drug prices projected for 2002). INTERPRETATION: Treating chronic tuberculosis patients with high levels of MDR with second-line drugs can be feasible and cost-effective in middle-income countries, provided a strong tuberculosis control programme is in place.