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Objective: To study the course of the functional status and healthcare needs of patients on a Medical Psychiatric Unit (MPU)., Methods: In a single-centre observational prospective design the Health of the Nation Outcome Scales (HoNOS) and Camberwell Assessment of Needs Short Appraisal Schedule (CANSAS) instruments were administered at admission and discharge. Functional status and healthcare needs were assessed utilizing the HoNOS and CANSAS respectively. The total costs of healthcare claims related to the admission were calculated based on claims data., Results: In total 50 patients were included with a mean improvement of 4.6 on the HoNOS and an effect size of 0.6.The total number of unmet needs fell from 208 to 115. The median costs per decreased HoNOS point were €2.842 and €6.880 per unmet need., Discussion: Many patients improved, but due to a large standard deviation at baseline and a low Cronbach's alpha, only 4 patients showed a reliable improvement on functional status. That substantial remission was achieved was shown by the decrease in unmet needs of 93 (44.7%) for the whole group. These observations support the implementation of MPUs, although more research is warranted to ensure cost-effectiveness., (Copyright © 2019 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Alterations of polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA) in schizophrenia have been reported, but there is substantial variation in the findings. We performed a systematic review and meta-analysis for docosapentaenoic acid (DPA), docosahexaenoic acid (DHA), linoleic acid (LA), and arachidonic acid (AA). We identified 18 studies which compared PUFA in the erythrocyte cell membrane between patients with schizophrenia and controls. A total of 642 patients (169 were antipsychotic-naïve) and 574 controls participated in these studies. We found suggestive evidence that the levels of DPA (C22:5n3) and DHA (C22:6n3) are decreased both in patients currently being treated with antipsychotic medication and antipsychotic-naïve patients. Our findings furthermore suggest that the levels of LA (C18:2n6) are decreased in the medicated subgroup, but not in the antipsychotic-naive group. Finally, we found decreased levels of AA (C20:4n6), most convincingly in antipsychotic-naive patients. Taken together, there is substantial evidence that decreased levels of DPA (C22:5n3), DHA (C22:6n3), and AA (C20:4n6) are associated with the schizophrenia syndrome, apart from a possible influence of antipsychotic medication. Given the large heterogeneity in results, these conclusions should be interpreted cautiously., (Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.)