Efficacy and acceptability of interventions for attenuated positive psychotic symptoms in individuals at clinical high risk of psychosis: a network meta-analysis

Cathy Davies, Joaquim Radua, Andrea Cipriani, Daniel Stahl, Umberto Provenzani, Philip McGuire, Paolo Fusar-Poli

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

85 Citations (Scopus)
291 Downloads (Pure)

Abstract

Background: Attenuated positive psychotic symptoms represent the defining features of the clinical high-risk for psychosis (CHR-P) criteria. The effectiveness of each available treatment for reducing attenuated positive psychotic symptoms remains undetermined. This network meta-analysis (NMA) investigates the consistency and magnitude of the effects of treatments on attenuated positive psychotic symptoms in CHR-P individuals, weighting the findings for acceptability.
Methods: Web of Science (MEDLINE), PsycInfo, CENTRAL and unpublished/grey literature were searched up to July 18, 2017. Randomized controlled trials in CHR-P individuals, comparing at least two interventions and reporting on attenuated positive psychotic symptoms at follow-up were included, following PRISMA guidelines. The primary outcome (efficacy) was level of attenuated positive psychotic symptoms at 6 and 12 months; effect sizes reported as standardized mean difference (SMD) and 95% CIs in mean follow-up scores between two compared interventions. The secondary outcome was treatment acceptability (reported as odds ratio (OR)). NMAs were conducted for both primary and secondary outcomes. Treatments were cluster-ranked by surface under the cumulative ranking curve values for efficacy and acceptability. Assessments of biases, assumptions, sensitivity analyses and complementary pairwise meta-analyses for the primary outcome were also conducted. 
Results: Overall, 1707 patients from 14 studies (57% male, mean age= 20) were included. In the NMA for efficacy, ziprasidone + Needs-Based Intervention (NBI) was found to be superior to NBI (SMD= -1.10, 95% CI -2.04 to -0.15), Cognitive Behavioural Therapy-French & Morrison protocol (CBT-F) + NBI (SMD= -1.03, 95% CI -2.05 to -0.01), and risperidone + CBT-F + NBI (SMD= -1.18, 95% CI -2.29 to -0.07) at 6 months. However, these findings did not survive sensitivity analyses. For acceptability, aripiprazole + NBI was significantly more acceptable than olanzapine + NBI (OR= 3.73; 95% CI 1.01 to 13.81) at 12 months only. No further significant NMA effects were observed at 6 or 12 months. The results were not affected by inconsistency or evident small-study effects, but only two studies had an overall low risk of bias. 
Conclusion: On the basis of the current literature, there is no robust evidence to favour any specific intervention for improving attenuated positive psychotic symptoms in CHR-P individuals.
Original languageEnglish
Article number187
JournalFrontiers in Psychiatry
Volume9
Early online date12 Jun 2018
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2018

Keywords

  • Psychosis risk
  • interventions
  • symptoms
  • network meta-analysis
  • treatments
  • clinical high risk

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'Efficacy and acceptability of interventions for attenuated positive psychotic symptoms in individuals at clinical high risk of psychosis: a network meta-analysis'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this