A systematic review of the clinical effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of pharmacological and psychological interventions for the management of obsessive–compulsive disorder in children/adolescents and adults

Background: Obsessive–compulsive disorder (OCD) is a relatively common and disabling condition. Objectives: To determine the clinical effectiveness, acceptability and cost-effectiveness of pharmacological and psychological interventions for the treatment of OCD in children, adolescents and adults. Data sources: We searched the Cochrane Collaboration Depression, Anxiety and Neurosis Trials Registers, which includes trials from routine searches of all the major databases. Searches were conducted from inception to 31 December 2014. Review methods: We undertook a systematic review and network meta-analysis (NMA) of the clinical effectiveness and acceptability of available treatments. Outcomes for effectiveness included mean differences in the total scores of the Yale–Brown Obsessive–Compulsive Scale or its children’s version and total dropouts for acceptability. For the cost-effectiveness analysis, we developed a probabilistic model informed by the results of the NMA. All analyses were performed using OpenBUGS version 3.2.3 (members of OpenBUGS Project Management Group; see www.openbugs.net). Results: We included 86 randomised controlled trials (RCTs) in our systematic review. In the NMA we included 71 RCTs (54 in adults and 17 in children and adolescents) for effectiveness and 71 for acceptability (53 in adults and 18 in children and adolescents), comprising 7643 and 7942 randomised patients available for analysis, respectively. In general, the studies were of medium quality. The results of the NMA showed that in adults all selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) and clomipramine had greater effects than drug placebo. There were no differences between SSRIs, and a trend for clomipramine to be more effective did not reach statistical significance. All active psychological therapies had greater effects than drug placebo. Behavioural therapy (BT) and cognitive therapy (CT) had greater effects than psychological placebo, but cognitive–behavioural therapy (CBT) did not. BT and CT, but not CBT, had greater effects than medications, but there are considerable uncertainty and methodological limitations that should be taken into account. In children and adolescents, CBT and BT had greater effects than drug placebo, but differences compared with psychological placebo did not reach statistical significance. SSRIs as a class showed a trend for superiority over drug placebo, but the difference did not reach statistical significance. However, the superiority of some individual drugs (fluoxetine, sertraline) was marginally statistically significant. Regarding acceptability, all interventions except clomipramine had good tolerability. In adults, CT and BT had the highest probability of being most cost-effective at conventional National Institute for Health and Care Excellence thresholds. In children and adolescents, CBT or CBT combined with a SSRI were more likely to be cost-effective. The results are uncertain and sensitive to assumptions about treatment effect and the exclusion of trials at high risk of bias. Limitations: The majority of psychological trials included patients who were taking medications. There were few studies in children and adolescents. Conclusions: In adults, psychological interventions, clomipramine, SSRIs or combinations of these are all effective, whereas in children and adolescents, psychological interventions, either as monotherapy or combined with specific SSRIs, were more likely to be effective. Future RCTs should improve their design, in particular for psychotherapy or combined interventions. Study registration: The study is registered as PROSPERO CRD42012002441. Funding details: The National Institute for Health Research Health Technology Assessment programme

Quality of life in children with OCD before and after treatment

Quality of life (QoL) is a well-established outcome measure. In contrast to adult obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), little is known about the effects of treatment on QoL in children with OCD. This study aimed to assess QoL after cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) in children and adolescents with OCD compared with the general population and to explore factors associated with potential changes in QoL after treatment. QoL was assessed in 135 children and adolescents (ages 7-17; mean 13 [SD 2.7] years; 48.1 % female) before and after 14 CBT sessions, using self-report and a caregivers proxy report of the Questionnaire for Measuring Health-related Quality of Life in Children and Adolescents (KINDL-R). QoL was compared with an age- and gender-matched sample from the general population. Before treatment, QoL was markedly lower in children with OCD compared with the general population. QoL improved significantly in CBT responders (mean score change 7.4), to the same range as QoL in the general population. Non-responders reported no QoL changes after treatment, except for one patient. Comorbidity, family accommodation and psychosocial functioning were not associated with changes in QoL after treatment. To our knowledge, this is the first study of the changes in QoL after treatment of paediatric OCD. The assessment of QoL beyond symptoms and function in children with OCD has been shown to be reliable and informative. The results of this study support the application of QoL assessment as an additional measure of treatment outcome in children and adolescents with OCD

Annual Research Review:Quality of life and childhood mental and behavioural disorders - a critical review of the research

Background: An individual's subjective perception of well-being is increasingly recognized as an essential complement to clinical symptomatology and functional impairment in children's mental health. Measurement of quality of life (QoL) has the potential to give due weight to the child's perspective. Scope and methodology: Our aim was to critically review the current evidence on how childhood mental disorders affect QoL. First, the major challenges in this research field are outlined. Then we present a systematic review of QoL in children and adolescents aged 0–18 years formally diagnosed with a mental and behavioural disorder, as compared to healthy or typically developing children or children with other health conditions. Finally, we discuss limitations of the current evidence base and future directions based on the results of the systematic review and other relevant literature. Findings and conclusions: The systematic review identified 41 eligible studies. All were published after the year 2000 and 21 originated in Europe. The majority examined QoL in neurodevelopmental disorders, including attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (k = 17), autism spectrum disorder (k = 6), motor disorders (k = 5) and intellectual disability (k = 4). Despite substantial heterogeneity, studies demonstrate that self-reported global QoL is significantly reduced compared to typical/healthy controls across several disorders and QoL dimensions. Parents’ ratings were on average substantially lower, casting doubt on the validity of proxy-report. Studies for large diagnostic groups such as depressive disorders, anxiety disorders, (early onset) schizophrenia and eating disorders are largely lacking. We conclude that representative, well-characterized normative and clinical samples as well as longitudinal and qualitative designs are needed to further clarify the construct of QoL, to derive measures of high ecological validity, and to examine how QoL fluctuates over time and is attributable to specific conditions or contextual factors