Psychological interventions for people with psychotic experiences: protocol for a systematic review and meta-analysis

Emma Soneson, Debra Russo, Clare Knight, Louise Lafortune, Margaret Heslin, Jan Stochl, Alex Georgiadis, Julieta Galante, Robbie Duschinsky, Nick Grey, Leticia Gonzalez-Blanco, Juliet Couche, Michelle Griffiths, Hannah Murray, Nesta Reeve, Joanne Hodgekins, Paul French, David Fowler, Sarah Byford, Mary Dixon-WoodsPeter B. Jones, Jesus Perez

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Abstract

Background
Many people who have common mental disorders, such as depression and anxiety, also have some psychotic experiences. These experiences are associated with higher clinical complexity, poor treatment response, and negative clinical outcomes. Psychological interventions have the potential to improve outcomes for people with psychotic experiences. The aims of this systematic review are to (1) synthesise the evidence on the effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of psychological interventions to reduce psychotic experiences and their associated distress and (2) identify key components of effective interventions.
Methods
Our search strategy will combine terms for (1) psychological interventions, (2) psychotic experiences, and (3) symptoms associated with psychotic experiences. We will search the following online databases: MEDLINE, Embase, PsycINFO, all Cochrane databases, British Nursing Index (BNI), Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature (CINAHL), Health Management Information Consortium (HMIC), Education Resources Information Center (ERIC), and EconLit. Our primary outcome is the proportion of people who recovered or remitted from psychotic experiences after the intervention. Our secondary outcomes are changes in positive psychotic symptoms, negative psychotic symptoms, depression, anxiety, functioning (including social, occupational, and academic), quality of life, and cost-effectiveness. Two independent reviewers will judge each study against pre-specified inclusion and exclusion criteria and will extract study characteristics, outcome data, and intervention components. Risk of bias and methodological quality will be assessed using the Effective Public Health Practice Project Quality Assessment Tool for Quantitative Studies and the Drummond Checklist. Results will be synthesised using random-effects meta-analysis and narrative synthesis.
Discussion
The identification of effective psychological interventions and of specific components associated with intervention effectiveness will augment existing evidence that can inform the development of a new, tailored intervention to improve outcomes related to psychotic symptoms, anxiety and depression, distress, functioning, and quality of life.
Original languageEnglish
Article number124
JournalSystematic Reviews
Volume8
Issue number1
Early online date23 May 2019
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2019

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