Active clinical trials for "Psychotic Disorders"

The purpose of this study is to assess the effectiveness of Meta-Cognitive Training (EMC) in people with a brief psychotic disorder, especially positive symptoms. The secondary objectives would be to assess the effect of EMC on metacognition (cognitive distortions and deficits in theory of mind), psychosocial functioning and quality of life, neuropsychological functioning and gender, as well as determine the changes produced by EMC in the insight of each session and the maintenance of the effects of EMC program at six months of treatment.

The aim of the project is to investigate the use of Raloxifene (a new form of estrogen) in the treatment of young women with schizophrenia and schizoaffective disorder. Raloxifene is a Selective Estrogen Receptor Modulator (SERM),which means that it can affect the central nervous system (CNS) effects of estrogen (eg. improving emotional symptoms, memory, information processing and concentration), without adversely affecting reproductive tissue/organs such as breast, uterus and ovaries. The investigators are conducting a double-blind, placebo controlled, three month study comparing the psychotic symptom response of women with schizophrenia in both groups. One group will receive standard antipsychotic medication plus 120mg Raloxifene, while the second group will receive standard antipsychotic medication plus oral placebo.

Rationale: There is ample evidence that inflammatory processes play a role in the pathophysiology of schizophrenia. Although Non-Steroidal Anti-Inflammatory Drugs (NSAIDs) have been shown to be able to reduce symptoms in these patients, these drugs either have unfavourable cardiovascular side effects or are otherwise not well tolerated. Moreover, patients with schizophrenia already tend to have an increased cardiovascular risk. The combination of well-established vascular protection and reduction of inflammation by simvastatin offers a highly attractive potential to further improve the treatment of schizophrenia and related disorders. Hypotheses: Daily treatment with 40mg simvastatin in addition to antipsychotic treatment reduces psychotic symptoms, improves cognition, attenuates brain volume loss, and decreases the risk for metabolic syndrome as well as for movement disorders, when compared to placebo. Objective: The primary objective of this trial is to investigate the proposed beneficial effect of simvastatin as compared to placebo when given for one year in addition to antipsychotic medication to patients with psychotic disorder. We expect lower symptom severity as measured with the PANSS (Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale) and less cognitive decline as measured with the BACS (Brief Assessment of Cognition in Schizophrenia).Secondary objectives are assessment of general functioning, presence and severity of metabolic syndrome and degree of movement disorders, and assessments of brain volume. Lastly, we examine various immunological parameters in serum and peripheral blood mononuclear cells and the experience of childhood trauma. Study design: Randomized placebo-controlled double-blind trial. Study population: 150 men and women, between 18 and 50 years of age, diagnosed with schizophrenia, schizoaffective or schizophreniform disorder (DSM-IV 295.*) or psychosis NOS (not otherwise specified) (298.9). Onset of first psychosis no longer than 3 years ago. Intervention: Patients will be randomized 1:1 to either 40 mg simvastatin or placebo daily, in the form of identical tablets.

People with serious mental illness have difficulty making good use of primary care, and die, on average, years earlier than others in the population. The greatest contributors to this premature mortality are medical illnesses, especially cardiovascular disease and cancer. The Patient Centered Medical Home is a model for reorganizing primary care practice so that healthcare is more effective, efficient, and user-friendly. It has been implemented across VA as the, "Patient Aligned Care Team" (PACT). It is unclear, however, how this PACT model applies to people whose predominant illness is treated by specialists. This is the case for people with serious mental illness (SMI), many of whom receive ongoing treatment at mental health clinics. To achieve optimal health outcomes in the population with SMI, it may be necessary to adapt the PACT model so that it includes approaches that have proven to improve healthcare in this population. This project implements an adapted "SMI-PACT" model, and evaluates its effect on Veterans with SMI.

The purpose of this study is to evaluate the efficacy, safety, and tolerability of two doses (50 and 100 mg) of NBI-98854 administered once daily for the treatment of Tardive Dyskinesia (TD) symptoms.

This study is aimed at evaluating whether the computer-based cognitive exercises in the Thinking Skills for Work (TSW) program are critical to improving work and cognitive outcomes in consumers with serious mental illness and cognitive impairment enrolled in supported employment (SE), or whether a streamlined version of TSW without this component (the Cognitive Skills for Work (CSW) program) is equally effective for some or all consumers. An RCT will be conducted at two sites (Mental Health Center of Greater Manchester in New Hampshire and Thresholds Inc. in Illinois) with 244 consumers randomly assigned to one of two groups (122 each, with approximately 122 participants having schizophrenia or schizoaffective disorder and 122 of the participants having other diagnoses): 1) TSW, or 2) CSW. The TSW and CSW programs will be delivered by the same Cognitive Specialists, who will work as members of the SE team to integrate cognitive and vocational services. All participants will continue to receive SE services. Participants will be assessed at baseline, post-treatment at 8 months (after completion of the active teaching components of TSW or CSW), and at 16 and 24 months post-baseline to evaluate cognitive functioning, symptoms, and quality of life. All work outcomes will be tracked weekly. In addition, a supplementary study, commencing in September 2015, will assess a promising biomarker for understanding the mechanisms underlying the effects of cognitive remediation, brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF), in new enrollees in the parent R01 study. This supplement will complement the aims of the parent R01 by shedding light on possible mechanisms related to how TSW works and for whom, thereby informing efforts to refine and improve the program, as well as targeting individuals who fail to benefit. The supplement will take place at the same sites as the parent R01.

Individuals with serious mental illness have greater morbidity from physical illness and mortality than the general population, but tend not to initiate or sustain engagement in health promotion interventions. Although promising weight management and wellness interventions have been developed for this population, they are very intensive and tend to have low enrollment, high attrition, and low reach. This pilot study will investigate a novel low-demand intervention that may be initially more acceptable, the Get Moving and Get Well! (GMGW) program. The primary objectives of the proposed study are to investigate the effects of participation in the GMGW program on measures of behavioral activation, self-efficacy, physical activity, general physical and mental health, mood, participants' intent to engage in more intensive physical health interventions, and actual engagement in those programs. Results of this pilot study will inform a future full-scale study of GMGW.

The purpose of this study is help people with serious mental illness and receiving vocational rehabilitation get and keep the job they want by improving their thinking skills, such as attention and memory, using computer exercises and other strategies. One half of the participants in the study will receive vocational rehabilitation and the exercises to improve thinking skills, and the other half will receive just vocational rehabilitation. All participants will receive an assessment of symptoms and thinking skills at the beginning of the study and 6, 12, and 24 months later. Work activity during the 24 months in the study will be collected. It is expected that those participants who receive the practice of their thinking skills will be more likely to get and keep the job they want compared with people who do not receive this treatment.

The purpose of this study is to assess the maintenance of antipsychotic efficacy and safety of risperidone long-acting injectable (RLAI) in patients with schizophrenia (psychiatric disorder with symptoms of emotional instability, detachment from reality, often with delusions and hallucinations, and withdrawal into the self) or schizoaffective (a mixed psychiatric disorder relating to a complex psychotic state that has features of both schizophrenia and a mood disorder such as bipolar disorder) disorder who were receiving treatment with any antipsychotic medication and who required a long-term antipsychotic therapy. The secondary aim is to investigate prospectively (a study that starts with the present condition of a population of individuals and follows them into the future) the prevalence of patients who met standardized remission criteria (according to Andreasen et al. criteria) and the psychopathological, psychosocial and subjective predictors of achieving remission.

Preventing psychotic disorders such as schizophrenia and associated functional disability could relieve an enormous burden of personal and family suffering and economic losses to society. This project aims to conduct a pilot randomized trial to determine the efficacy of a family-focused treatment in comparison with treatment-as-usual in enhancing functional outcomes, stabilizing symptoms, and preventing or delaying the onset of full psychosis in transitional age youth with prodromal symptoms. The results of this study will be crucial for the development of cost-effective, evidence-based psychosocial approaches to psychosis prevention and thus will have major implications for public health.