Study protocol for a systematic review of evidence for lifestyle interventions targeting smoking, sleep, alcohol/other drug use, physical activity, and healthy diet in people with bipolar disorder

BACKGROUND: People with bipolar disorder (BD) have a mortality gap of up to 20 years compared to the general population. Physical conditions, such as cardiovascular disease (CVD) and cancer, cause the majority of excess deaths in psychiatric populations and are the leading causes of mortality in people with BD. However, comparatively little attention has been paid to reducing the risk of physical conditions in psychiatric populations. Unhealthy lifestyle behaviors are among the potentially modifiable risk factors for a range of commonly comorbid chronic medical conditions, including CVD, diabetes, and obesity. This systematic review will identify and evaluate the available evidence for effective interventions to reduce risk and promote healthy lifestyle behaviors in BD.

METHODS/DESIGN: We will search MEDLINE, Embase, PsychINFO, Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews, and CINAHL for published research studies (with at least an abstract published in English) that evaluate behavioral or psychosocial interventions to address the following lifestyle factors in people with BD: tobacco use, physical inactivity, unhealthy diet, overweight or obesity, sleep-wake disturbance, and alcohol/other drug use. Primary outcomes for the review will be changes in tobacco use, level of physical activity, diet quality, sleep quality, alcohol use, and illicit drug use. Data on each primary outcome will be synthesized across available studies in that lifestyle area (e.g., tobacco abstinence, cigarettes smoked per day), and panel of research and clinical experts in each of the target lifestyle behaviors and those experienced with clinical and research with individuals with BD will determine how best to represent data related to that primary outcome. Seven members of the systematic review team will extract data, synthesize the evidence, and rate it for quality. Evidence will be synthesized via a narrative description of the behavioral interventions and their effectiveness in improving the healthy lifestyle behaviors in people with BD.

DISCUSSION: The planned review will synthesize and evaluate the available evidence regarding the behavioral or psychosocial treatment of lifestyle-related behaviors in people with BD. From this review, we will identify gaps in our existing knowledge and research evidence about the management of unhealthy lifestyle behaviors in people with BD. We will also identify potential opportunities to address lifestyle behaviors in BD, with a view to reducing the burden of physical ill-health in this population.

Ageing, chronic disease and injury: a study in western Victoria (Australia)

Background : An increasing burden of chronic disease and associated health service delivery is expected due to the ageing Australian population. Injuries also affect health and wellbeing and have a long-term impact on health service utilisation. There is a lack of comprehensive data on disease and injury in rural and regional areas of Australia. The aim of the Ageing, Chronic Disease and Injury study is to compile data from various sources to better describe the patterns of chronic disease and injury across western Victoria.

Design : Ecological study.

Methods : Information on demographics, socioeconomic indicators and lifestyle factors are obtained from health surveys and government departments. Data concerning chronic diseases and injuries will be sourced from various registers, health and emergency services, local community health centres and administrative databases and compiled to generate profiles for the study region and for sub-populations within the region.

Expected impact for public health: This information is vital to establish current and projected population needs to inform policy and improve targeted health services delivery, care transition needs and infrastructure development. This study provides a model that can be replicated in other geographical settings.

Identifying and integrating patient and caregiver perspectives for clinical practice guidelines on the screening and management of infectious microorganisms in hemodialysis units

Introduction: The integration of patient and caregiver input into guideline development can help to ensure that clinical care addresses patient expectations, priorities, and needs. We aimed to identify topics and outcomes salient to patients and caregivers for inclusion in the Kidney Health Australia Caring for Australasians with Renal Impairment (KHA-CARI) clinical practice guideline on the screening and management of infectious microorganisms in hemodialysis units.

Methods: A facilitated workshop was conducted with 11 participants (patients [n = 8], caregivers [n = 3]). Participants identified and discussed potential topics for inclusion in the guidelines, which were compared to those developed by the guideline working group. The workshop transcript was thematically analyzed to identify and describe the reasons underpinning their priorities.

Findings: Patients and caregivers identified a range of topics already covered by the scope of the proposed guidelines and also suggested additional topics: privacy and confidentiality, psychosocial care during/after disease notification, quality of transportation, psychosocial treatment of patients in isolation, patient/caregiver education and engagement, and patient advocacy. Five themes characterized discussion and underpinned their choices: shock and vulnerability, burden of isolation, fear of infection, respect for privacy and confidentiality, and confusion over procedural inconsistencies.

Discussion: Patients and caregivers emphasized the need for guidelines to address patient education and engagement, and the psychosocial implications of communication and provision of care in the context of infectious microorganisms in hemodialysis units. Integrating patient and caregiver perspectives can help to improve the relevance of guidelines to enhance quality of care, patient experiences, and health and psychosocial outcomes.

Caring for people with diabetes at the end of life

End-of-life care planning is assuming global significance. While general end-of-life care guidelines apply to diabetes, there are some diabetes-specific issues that need to be considered. These include the usual long trajectory to end-of-life care that enables clinicians and people with diabetes to proactively discuss when to change the focus of care from preventing diabetes complications (tight control) to a palliative approach. Palliative care aims to promote comfort and quality of life and reduce the unnecessary burden of care on individuals and their families. The aim of this paper is to discuss common disease trajectories and their relationship to diabetes care, outline strategies for proactively discussing these issues and suggest indications that palliative care is warranted.

Adherence to a Mediterranean-style diet and effects on cognition in adults: a qualitative evaluation and systematic review of longitudinal and prospective trials

The Mediterranean-style diet (MedDiet) involves substantial intake of fruits, vegetables, and fish, and a lower consumption of dairy, red meat, and sugars. Over the past 15 years, much empirical evidence supports the suggestion that a MedDiet may be beneficial with respect to reducing the incidence of cardiovascular disease, cancer, metabolic syndrome, and dementia. A number of cross-sectional studies that have examined the impact of MedDiet on cognition have yielded largely positive results. The objective of this review is to evaluate longitudinal and prospective trials to gain an understanding of how a MedDiet may impact cognitive processes over time. The included studies were aimed at improving cognition or minimizing of cognitive decline. Studies reviewed included assessments of dietary status using either a food frequency questionnaire or a food diary assessment. Eighteen articles meeting our inclusion criteria were subjected to systematic review. These revealed that higher adherence to a MedDiet is associated with slower rates of cognitive decline, reduced conversion to Alzheimer's disease, and improvements in cognitive function. The specific cognitive domains that were found to benefit with improved Mediterranean Diet Score were memory (delayed recognition, long-term, and working memory), executive function, and visual constructs. The current review has also considered a number of methodological issues in making recommendations for future research. The utilization of a dietary pattern, such as the MedDiet, will be essential as part of the armamentarium to maintain quality of life and reduce the potential social and economic burden of dementia.

An integrated model of care for inflammatory bowel disease sufferers in Australia: development and the effects of its implementation.

BACKGROUND: Psychological comorbidities are associated with poor outcome and increased healthcare utilization in patients with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). However, a model of care addressing the biopsychosocial dimension of disease is not routinely applied in IBD. This review describes the development of such a model and the effects of its implementation in a hospital-based cohort of patients with IBD. METHODS: Three different approaches were used: 1) collecting baseline epidemiological data on mental health comorbidities; 2) raising awareness of and targeting mental health problems; 3) examining the effects of the model implementation. RESULTS: High rates of anxiety and depressive symptoms (36% and 13%, respectively) that are maintained over time were identified in IBD patients presenting at a metropolitan teaching hospital. Patients with documented psychological comorbidities were more likely to be hospitalized than those without (odds ratio [OR] = 4.13, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.25, 13.61). Improvements in disease activity, anxiety, depression, quality of life, and coping have been noted when cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) was provided to patients. A drop in the use of opiates (P = 0.037) and hospitalization rates (from 48% to 30%) in IBD patients has been noted as a result of introduction of the changed model of care. In addition, the mean total cost of inpatient care was lower for IBD patients than controls (US$12,857.48 [US$15,236.79] vs. US$ 30,467.78 [US$ 53,760.20], P = 0.005). CONCLUSION: Our data to date suggest that an integrated model of care for patients with IBD may yield superior long-term outcomes in terms of medication use and hospitalization rates and reduce healthcare costs.