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Aims: Most research exploring the link between traumatic events and psychotic experiences has focused on either Australia, Europe or North America. In this study, we expand the existing knowledge to Thailand and investigate the impact of the type and the number of traumatic events on psychotic experiences in Thailand. Methods: We used data from the nationally representative 2013 Thai National Mental Health Survey (TNMHS), including questions on traumatic events and psychotic experiences. We regressed the lifetime experience of hallucinations or delusions against the following independent variables: the experience of any traumatic event during lifetime (dichotomous; hypothesis 1); the experience of either no traumatic event, one interpersonal, one unintentional or both interpersonal and unintentional traumatic events (categorical; hypothesis 2) and the number of traumatic events experienced during lifetime (categorical; hypothesis 3). We adjusted the regression models for sociodemographic indicators and psychiatric disorders, and considered survey weights. Results: About 6% (95% confidence interval: 4.9–7.0) of the respondents stated that they had either hallucinatory or delusional experiences during their lifetime. The risk of reporting such experiences was more than doubled as high among respondents who had experienced at least one traumatic event during their lifetime than among those who had not yet experienced one, with higher risks for interpersonal or multiple traumatic events. Our results further indicated an increase in the risk of psychotic experiences as the number of traumatic events increased, with up to an eight-fold higher risk for people exposed to five or more traumatic events in their lifetime, compared to those with no traumatic events. Conclusions: Individuals reporting interpersonal or multiple traumatic events face much higher risk of psychotic experiences. Effective and widely accessible secondary prevention programmes for people having experienced interpersonal or multiple traumatic events constitute a key intervention option. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Oral terbinafine is widely used in the treatment of superficial dermatomycoses as well as subcutaneous and systemic mycoses. It is also useful in treating tinea capitis, although for Microsporum canis and some ectothrix organisms, the effectiveness of the drug may be less than for some endothrix infections. In this study, we undertook a double-blind randomized trial comparing standard and double doses of terbinafine given in a pulsed protocol (1 week on, 3 weeks off) in treating Microsporum spp. tinea capitis in 42 individuals. We found that pulsed terbinafine at a higher dose did not improve treatment efficacy. However, our data clearly demonstrated that the duration of treatment is an important factor in determining clinical outcome and cure. Two pulses of standard dose terbinafine were found to be sufficient for treating most cases of Microsporum spp. tinea capitis, although additional treatment (a third pulse) may be needed if clinical improvement is not evident at 8 weeks after initiating therapy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Clozapine is the most effective antipsychotic with respect to the incidence of discontinuation and is indicated for treatment-resistant schizophrenia. Although the recommendation for clozapine administration is divided dosing, once-daily dosing of clozapine is commonly prescribed in many countries. However, there is currently no clinical data comparing all-cause discontinuation between the 2 methods of administration of clozapine., Objectives: To compare the all-cause discontinuation and safety of clozapine administration between once-daily and divided dosing regimens., Methods: This was a retrospective cohort study. Participants were patients with treatment-resistant schizophrenia who had received 300 to 600 mg/day of clozapine for at least 3 months. Data were collected from outpatient medical records at Somdet Chaopraya Institute of Psychiatry. Eligible patients were classified into 2 groups: once-daily dosing and divided dosing. The primary outcome was the all-cause discontinuation rate between groups. The duration of the study was 2 years., Results: One hundred eighteen patients were included and analyzed in this study (once-daily dosing group: n = 58; divided dosing group: n = 60). There was no significant difference in all-cause discontinuation between the 2 groups (odds ratio 1.03; 95% confidence interval: [0.28, 3.79]: P = 1.00), or adverse events between groups., Conclusion and Relevance: In patients with treatment-resistant schizophrenia, there were no significant differences in effectiveness or safety between once-daily and divided dosing of clozapine. Further prospective studies with larger sample sizes are required to confirm these findings., Competing Interests: Declaration of Conflicting InterestsThe authors declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

Progress in promoting mental health, preventing mental illness, and improving care for people affected by mental illness is unlikely to occur if efforts remain separated from existing public health programs and the principles of public health action. Experts met recently to discuss integrating public health and mental health strategies in the south and east of Asia, especially in low- and middle-income countries. Areas of research identified as high priority were: 1) integrating mental health into perinatal care; 2) providing culturally-adjusted support for carers of people with mental and physical disorders; 3) using digital health technologies for mental health care in areas with limited resources and 4) building local research capacity. Selection of these areas was informed by their relative novelty in the region, ease of implementation, likely widespread benefit, and potential low costs. In this article, we summarise available evidence, highlight gaps and call for collaborations with research centres, leaders and persons with lived experience within and beyond the region., Competing Interests: We declare no competing interests., (© 2023 The Authors.)

Background: Intensive case management (ICM) programmes for psychotic patients are effective in improving outcomes, but often unfeasible in resource-poor settings, as they typically require extensive human resources and expertise. We developed and evaluated the effectiveness of a less intensive case management program (LICM), led by community health workers, on one-year social functioning and service use., Methods: A prospective cohort study was conducted on patients aged 18 and above residing in a hospital catchment area. Outcomes were compared between LICM (n = 64) and non-LICM participants (n = 485). A counterfactual framework approach was applied to assess causal effects of the LICM on outcomes. The programme effectiveness was analyzed by augmented-inverse probability of treatment weighting (AIPW) to estimate potential outcome mean (POM) and average treatment effect (ATE). Outcomes were employment status and use of emergency, inpatient and outpatient services. Analyses were stratified by the number of previous psychotic relapse (≤ 1, > 1) to assess heterogeneity of treatment effect on those in an early and later stages of psychotic illness., Results: In the early-stage cohort, the likelihood of being employed at one year post-baseline was significantly greater in LICM participants than non-LICM participants (ATE 0.10, 95%CI 0.05-0.14, p < 0.001), whereas service use of all types, except outpatient, was not significantly different between the two groups. In the later-stage cohort, the likelihoods of employment between the two groups at post-baseline were similar (ATE -0.02, 95%CI -0.19-0.15, p = 0.826), whereas service use of all types was significantly higher in LICM participants., Conclusion: LICM in a setting where community mental services are scarce may benefit those at an early stage of psychotic illness, by leading to better social functioning and no higher use of unscheduled services at the end of the programme, possibly through their better prognosis and medication adherence. A more intensive case management model may be appropriate for those in a later stage of the illness., (© 2022. The Author(s).)

Depression, together with suicide is an important contributor to the burden of disease in Thailand. Until recently, depression has been significantly under-recognized in the country. The lack of response to this health challenge has been compounded by a low level of access to standard care, constraints on mental health personnel and inadequate dissemination of knowledge in caring for people with these disorders. In the past decade, significant work has been undertaken to establish a new evidence-based surveillance and care system for depression and suicide in Thailand that operates at all levels of health-care provision nationwide. The main components of the integrated system are: (i) community-level screening for depression in at-risk groups, using a two-question tool; (ii) assessment of the severity of depression using a nine-question scale; (iii) diagnosis and treatment by general practitioners; (iv) psychosocial care provided by psychiatric nurses; (v) continuous care for relapse and suicide prevention; and (vi) promotion of mental well-being and prevention of depression in at-risk populations. Factors such as appropriate financial mechanisms, capacity-building programmes for health-care workers, and robust treatment guidelines have contributed to the success and sustainability of this comprehensive surveillance and care system. By 2016, more than 14 million people at risk had been screened for depression and received mental health education; more than 1.7 million people with depression had received psychosocial interventions; 0.7 million diagnosed patients had received antidepressants; and 0.8 million were being followed up for relapse and suicide prevention. The application of this surveillance and care system has led to an enormous increase in the accessibility of standard care for people with depressive disorders, from 5.1% of those with depressive disorders in 2009 to 48.5% in 2016.