M S Swartz

..This naturalistic study compares atypical and typical antipsychotics on time to all-cause medication discontinuation, a recognized index of medication effectiveness in the treatment of schizophrenia...

..The goal of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of involuntary outpatient commitment in reducing rehospitalizations among individuals with severe mental illnesses...

..This paper reviews the empirical literature on the procedure's effectiveness...

..This study examined the relative effects of the second-generation antipsychotic drugs and an older representative agent on psychosocial functioning in patients with chronic schizophrenia...

..This double-blind study compared a second generation (atypical) antipsychotic drugs compared to a representative older agent for patients with schizophrenia who use or avoid illicit substances...

..These data provide little support for acceptance and "gratitude" as a rationale to support decision making about OPC continuation. Rather, clinicians need to rely on other clinical and empirical data for such decision making...

..The current analyses demonstrate that a consequence of OPC is increased perceptions of coercion in the treatment process, which is partially explained by the increased attention by case managers to noncompliance with treatment...

..Patient characteristics and clinical circumstances affected drug effectiveness; these patient factors are important in making treatment choices...

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..Violent behaviour among persons with severe mental illness (SMI) causes public concern and is associated with illness relapse, hospital recidivism and poor outcomes in community-based treatment...

..Sustained periods of outpatient commitment may significantly improve adherence with community-based mental health treatment for persons with severe mental illness and thus may help improve other clinical outcomes affected by adherence...

..This study assessed seroprevalence rates of HIV, hepatitis B virus (HBV), and hepatitis C virus (HCV) among individuals with severe mental illness...

..African-American veterans have significantly higher rates of HBV than do Caucasian veterans, which persist after controlling for prominent risk behaviors...

..Whether this overrepresentation under court-ordered outpatient treatment is unfair depends on one's view: is it access to treatment and a less restrictive alternative to hospitalization, or a coercive deprivation of personal liberty?..

..Realized access is good for many triply diagnosed patients, but remains suboptimal overall. Deficiencies in HIV care are unevenly distributed, tending to concentrate on already disadvantaged populations...

..We examined associations between trust of health care providers and the government and health service use and outcomes...

..Actual completion of PADs was more likely among participants with higher insight, those reporting leverage by a representative payee, and those who felt external pressure to keep outpatient appointments for mental health treatment...

..g., homelessness) and veterans without SMI (e.g., PTSD)...

..Multiple analyses suggested that a broad cognitive deficit characterizes this sample. These deficits are modestly related to negative symptoms and essentially independent of positive symptom severity...

..The screener is not a diagnostic instrument and has limited value in predicting specific psychiatric diagnoses...

..These findings suggest that patients with comorbid PTSD are at higher risk for suicidality. Enhanced screening and targeted interventions may be warranted to address comorbid PTSD and increased suicide risk in this population...

..This article further examines arguments for and against PADs and looks optimistically toward their use as an alternative to more coercive approaches to mental health treatment such as outpatient commitment (OPC)...

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..This treatment intervention was associated with positive outcomes in the integrated treatment study and can be adapted for use in a variety of psychiatric or medical treatment settings...

..Abuse is related to increases in high-HIV-risk activities. The findings help explain why people engage in such high-risk activities and can provide guidance in designing improved care and prevention messages...

..The HIV/AIDS epidemic in the U.S. South is undergoing a marked shift toward a greater proportion of new HIV/AIDS cases in women, African-Americans, and through heterosexual transmission...

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..Mental illness in heads of state is a topic deserving further attention. Methodological limitations of using biography to determine psychopathology are discussed...

..The relative effect of the second-generation (atypical) antipsychotic drugs and older agents on neurocognition has not been comprehensively determined...

..However, relatively few studies have focused on understanding the connection between violence and dynamic, malleable variables such as a patient's level of treatment engagement...

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..Components and correlates of caregiver burden in schizophrenia were studied...

..Data from a national study of persons with schizophrenia-related disorders were examined to determine clinical factors and labor-market conditions related to employment outcomes...

..This study examined the relationship between substance use and psychosocial functioning in schizophrenia...

..Given concerns over antipsychotic effects on serum TG, this analysis explored changes in nonfasting TG in phase 1 of the CATIE Schizophrenia Trial...

..Violence is an uncommon but significant problem associated with schizophrenia...

..We discuss philosophical-ethical and legal issues surrounding overriding PADs and offer analysis of the possible future of legal cases in which the question of overriding PADs and fiscal concerns may collide...

..It also examines the potential moderating effect of social support on the association between mandated treatment experiences and barriers attributable to fear of involuntary commitment or forced treatment...

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..This randomized, double-blind study compared olanzapine, quetiapine, and risperidone in patients who had just discontinued the older antipsychotic perphenazine...

..This study examined the influence of medication class (atypical antipsychotic, typical antipsychotic and no medication) and compliance on substance use outcomes for schizophrenia patients in the community...

..This paper examines the ways in which PADs support and can be a tool for recovery and discusses future recovery-oriented directions for PAD research and intervention...

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..Few studies have examined barriers to physical and mental healthcare among homeless mentally adults...

..Studies show a high potential demand for psychiatric advance directives but low completion rates. The authors conducted a randomized study of a structured, manualized intervention to facilitate completion of psychiatric advance directives...

..This study examined whether patients' reasons for refusing treatment influenced clinician decision making about implementing psychiatric advance directives...

..PAD override was less likely among participants who believed that involuntary treatment is largely unnecessary in a high-quality mental health system...

..These results suggest that, in practice, sustained OPC represents a consensual agreement between clinicians and the court to more intensively address the complex needs of persons with severe and persistent mental illness...

..This study examined mental health consumers' appraisals of the fairness and effectiveness of mandated community treatment and related pressures to promote treatment adherence...

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..Treatment with atypical antipsychotic medications should be considered as an important component of violence risk management for schizophrenia patients at risk for violent behavior...

..The data suggest that these legal tools both affect adherence to treatment, but when used together significantly increase the perceived coerciveness of treatment. Questions remain concerning the underlying mechanism of these effects...

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..If the phase 2 study drug is discontinued, subjects may enter phase 3, in which clinicians help subjects select an open-label treatment based on individuals' experiences in phases 1 and 2...

..These results suggest that mandated treatment may serve as a barrier to treatment, but that ongoing informal pressures to adhere to treatment may also be important barriers to treatment...

..The study examined different types of third-party money management arrangements for persons with psychiatric disabilities and consumers' perceptions of their finances in the context of these arrangements...

..The purpose of this study was to assess whether use of a relatively new method of detection, radioimmunoassay of hair, improved detection and was acceptable to patients with serious mental illness...

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..The authors sought to better understand the relationship of substance abuse to higher rates of transmission of hepatitis C among persons with severe mental illness...

..Finally, each of the articles in this special section is briefly outlined, with reference to the overall hypotheses of the studies...

..This study examined the prevalence and correlates of violent behavior by individuals with severe mental illness...

..The authors' goal was to evaluate the effectiveness of outpatient commitment in reducing victimization among people with severe mental illness...

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..This study prospectively examined the effectiveness of treatment with olanzapine versus risperidone in reducing violent behavior among patients with schizophrenia under "usual care" conditions in the community...

..Violent behavior is uncommon, yet problematic, among schizophrenia patients. The complex effects of clinical, interpersonal, and social-environmental risk factors for violence in this population are poorly understood...

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..This randomized, double-blind study compared olanzapine, quetiapine, risperidone, and ziprasidone in patients who had just discontinued a different atypical antipsychotic...

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..Although laws authorizing psychiatric advance directives have proliferated, little is known about clinicians' understanding and perceptions of these legal tools...

..This study examined lifetime use rates and correlates of outpatient commitment or related civil court-ordered outpatient treatment in five U.S. communities...

..The data shed light on the potential for family representative payeeship to be associated with increased risk of interpersonal conflict and violence in SMI...

..Throughout the analyses, the consumers tended to have the most negative views of the illness. Implications for future stigma research and education are discussed...

..Laws authorizing PADs have proliferated in the past decade, but there has been little research regarding perceptions of barriers to the implementation of PADs among groups of mental health professionals...

..Living instability was common and related to medication nonadherence, too, warranting further investigation...

..We compared a first-generation antipsychotic, perphenazine, with several newer drugs in a double-blind study...

..To examine the clinical characteristics of individuals with schizophrenia that develop tardive dyskinesia (TD) associated with antipsychotic treatment...

..Implications for equal access to mental health services, in this case, effective psychopharmacologic treatment, are discussed...

..Individuals with comorbid PTSS and BPD demonstrate greater overall impairment and usage of health care resources...

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