(October 30, 2018) Research Roundup is a monthly public service of the Office of Research and Public Affairs. Each edition describes a striking new data point about serious mental illness and summarizes recently published research reports or developments.
DATAPOINT of the Month
- 12% of patients in state hospitals are voluntary admissions.
According to 2015 data from the National Association of State Mental Health Program Directors Research Institute, only 12% of patients in state hospitals are there voluntarily, a daily average from 41 responding states. The majority of patients in state hospitals are on a forensic commitment for competency evaluation, restoration or another criminal justice-related hold, whereas the remaining patients are in a state hospital for a non-criminal civil commitment.
RESEARCH of the Month
- Sources of mental health research for policy makers.
State legislators have tremendous power in impacting accessibility of mental health services in their respective states due to their decision-making capabilities. New research points to their preferences for sources of information, dissemination of the material and how the information should be presented.
Jonathon Purtle and authors surveyed 475 state legislators throughout the United States and found that 53% of state legislators receive their mental health information from advocacy organizations. The next most commonly stated sources for information were their legislative staff and state mental health agencies.
Research about budget impact and cost effectiveness were rated the most important content by the majority of legislators, especially by members of the Republican Party.
Purtle, J. et al. (2018). Legislators’ sources of behavioral health research and preferences for dissemination: Variations by political party. Psychiatric Services.
- Improving physical health among individuals with serious mental illness.
Individuals with serious mental illness die up to 25 years earlier than those from the general population, in part due to the significant burden of other physical conditions, such as diabetes and heart disease. According to results from a randomized control trial published this month in Psychiatric Services, Living Well, a group-based illness self-management program co-lead by a peer with mental illness, was shown to increase the confidence of individuals with mental illness and physical conditions in managing their illness treatments. In addition, Living Well is effective in improving quality of life among participants.
Muralidharan, A., et al. (2018). Living well: An intervention to improve medical illness self-management among individuals with serious mental illness. Psychiatric Services.
- Using machine learning to detect a brain structure signature of schizophrenia.
Machine learning, a type of computer technology that uses statistical analysis to program computers to learn from experience, is a new innovation increasingly being used to answer some of the most difficult health questions. Recently published research in Schizophrenia Bulletin reports the findings from a large study using machine learning to detect structural brain differences in MRI images of patients with schizophrenia. The authors found common structural brain changes among patients with schizophrenia across all patient populations from all sites and MRI scanners, with the results indicating there exists a robust signature of specific brain structure biomarkers for the disease.
Rozycki, M., et al. (2018). Multisite machine learning analysis provides a robust structural imaging signature of schizophrenia detectable across diverse patient populations within individuals. Schizophrenia Bulletin.
Elizabeth Sinclair
Director of Research
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Research Weekly is a summary published as a public service of the Treatment Advocacy Center and does not necessarily reflect the findings or positions of the organization or its staff. Full access to research summarized may require a fee or paid subscription to the publications.