Andre Tomlin

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André Tomlin is an Information Scientist with 20 years experience working in evidence-based healthcare. He's worked in the NHS, for Oxford University and since 2002 as Managing Director of Minervation Ltd, a consultancy company who do clever digital stuff for charities, universities and the public sector. Most recently André has been the driving force behind the Mental Elf and the National Elf Service; an innovative digital platform that helps professionals keep up to date with simple, clear and engaging summaries of evidence-based research. André is a Trustee at the Centre for Mental Health and an Honorary Research Fellow at University College London Division of Psychiatry. He lives in Bristol, surrounded by dogs, elflings and lots of woodland!

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Regional variation in health professional attitudes to antipsychotic polypharmacy for schizophrenia

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This cross-sectional study used a postal questionnaire to find out if there are regional differences in the attitudes of doctors and nurses to antipsychotic polypharmacy and the use of clinical guidelines. A survey was sent to 2 pairs of treatment settings in Denmark, characterized by low and high prevalence of antipsychotic polypharmacy, respectively. The questionnaire [read the full story…]

Depressed adults who take antidepressants for 12 weeks or more have a reduced incidence of heart attack

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This cohort study conducted by researchers from the St. Louis Veterans Affairs Medical Center set out to answer the question: Are antidepressants associated with an increased or decreased risk of incident myocardial infarction and all-cause mortality? 93,653 patients aged 25–80 years (average age 51.5 years, 14.1% female, 77.8% White, 57.1% not married) were identified using the [read the full story…]

Group CBT is not cost-effective for treating postnatal depression

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The objective of this cost-utility analysis was to assess the cost-effectiveness of providing group cognitive-behavioural therapy (CBT), compared with routine primary care, for women with postnatal depression in the UK. Group CBT was compared with routine primary care for women with postnatal depression, defined by their Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale (EPDS) score, with scores ranging [read the full story…]

UK consensus statement on the identification and management of ADHD offenders within the criminal justice system

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The UK Adult ADHD Network has published a consensus statement on the identification and management of ADHD offenders within the criminal justice system (CJS). The document claims that ADHD is currently not on the criminal justice agenda, which is a concern given the disproportionately high rates of ADHD offenders compared with the normal population and [read the full story…]

Treating pain in dementia reduces agitation and may help reduce unnecessary prescriptions of antipsychotics

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Many people with dementia experience pain, but often find it difficult to communicate this to their carers and the pain is therefore manifested as agitation instead. A randomised controlled trial published in the British Medical Journal looks at a systematic approach to the treatment of pain, to see if it can reduce agitation in people with [read the full story…]

Department of Health publish Mental Health Community Teams activity data

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The Department of Health have published the quarterly Mental Health Community Teams activity data for 2010-11 and 2011-12 quarter 1. The data consists of a number of spreadsheets and a document available for download from the DH website. The main findings were: 2010-11 During 2010-11 10,311 new cases of psychosis were served by Early Intervention [read the full story…]

Meta analysis reveals different structural brain abnormalities in depression and bipolar disorder

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It has long been documented that there are clinical differences between depression and bipolar disorder, but to date there has been no reliable study that shows differences in structural brain abnormalities in the two disorders. A research team from the Institute of Psychiatry in London have published a meta analysis that investigates structural brain changes in [read the full story…]

Department of Health publish a diagnostic tool for emerging clinical commissioning groups

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The Department of Health have produced a diagnostic tool for emerging clinical commissioning groups, to help them understand and reflect upon their values, culture, behaviour and wider organisational health. The tool is an Excel spreadsheet that groups can use to identify their developmental needs. It includes sections on: Clinical focus and added value Engagement with [read the full story…]

Stepped care is no better than usual care in treating depression and anxiety in primary care

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There are increasing levels of interest in stepped care models to treat mental health problems in primary care. This randomised controlled trial investigated the effectiveness of a stepped care programme for treating depression and anxiety in 120 adults (aged 18-65 years with minor or major DSM-IV depressive and/or anxiety disorders) in general practice.  Patients were [read the full story…]

Smoking, drinking and drug use among young people in England: many self-reported downward trends continue

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This report from the NHS Information Centre contains results from an annual survey of secondary school pupils in England in years 7 to 11 (mostly aged 11 to 15). 7,296 pupils in 246 schools completed questionnaires in the autumn term of 2010. The National Centre for Social Research (NatCen) and the National Foundation for Educational Research [read the full story…]