Research by staff affiliated to St. Patrick's University Hospital

Recent Submissions

  • Safety and Efficacy of Elexacaftor/Tezacaftor/Ivacaftor for 24 Weeks or Longer in People with Cystic Fibrosis and One or More Alleles: Interim Results of an Open-Label Phase 3 Clinical Trial.

    Griese, Matthias; Costa, Stefano; Linnemann, Rachel W; Mall, Marcus A; McKone, Edward F; Polineni, Deepika; Quon, Bradley S; Ringshausen, Felix C; Taylor-Cousar, Jennifer L; Withers, Nicholas J; et al.
  • Adult mental health social work and housing: a position paper

    Curran, Linda; Irish Association of Social Workers; Social Workers in Adult Mental Health Special Interest Group; Cowman, John; Egan, M.; Lane, J.; Nagwadia, N.; Guckian, P. (Irish Association of Social Workers (IASW), 2022-12)
    This position paper offers a viewpoint on the current housing crisis in Ireland from the perspective of adult mental health social workers. A key part of the social work role is to assist individuals and families with accessing housing and accommodation, so that they might have an opportunity to build their recovery upon a secure base. The paper begins with a brief review of literature related to the role of the social worker in this area. The methodology is outlined and followed by the study findings. The paper concludes with discussion and key recommendations for social workers, government, housing departments, council services, educators and others involved in this important field.
  • Retrograde autobiographical amnesia after electroconvulsive therapy: on the difficulty of finding the baby and clearing murky bathwater.

    Semkovska, Maria; McLoughlin, Declan M; From the *Department of Psychology, University of Limerick, Castletroy, Co. Limerick, Ireland and †Department of Psychiatry and Trinity College Institute of Neuroscience, Trinity College Dublin, St Patrick's University Hospital, Dublin, Ireland. (2014-09)
  • Dialectical behaviour therapy-informed skills training for deliberate self-harm: a controlled trial with 3-month follow-up data.

    Gibson, Jennifer; Booth, Richard; Davenport, John; Keogh, Karen; Owens, Tara; Department of Psychology, St Patrick's University Hospital, James's Street, Dublin 8, Ireland. Electronic address: jgibson@stpatsmail.com. (2014-09)
    Dialectical Behaviour Therapy (DBT) has been shown to be an effective treatment for deliberate self-harm (DSH) and emerging evidence suggests DBT skills training alone may be a useful adaptation of the treatment. DBT skills are presumed to reduce maladaptive efforts to regulate emotional distress, such as DSH, by teaching adaptive methods of emotion regulation. However, the impact of DBT skills training on DSH and emotion regulation remains unclear. This study examined the Living Through Distress (LTD) programme, a DBT-informed skills group provided in an inpatient setting. Eighty-two adults presenting with DSH or Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD) were offered places in LTD, in addition to their usual care. A further 21 clients on the waiting list for LTD were recruited as a treatment-as-usual (TAU) group. DSH, anxiety, depression, and emotion regulation were assessed at baseline and either post-intervention or 6 week follow-up. Greater reductions in the frequency of DSH and improvements in some aspects of emotion regulation were associated with completion of LTD, as compared with TAU. Improvements in DSH were maintained at 3 month follow-up. This suggests providing a brief intensive DBT-informed skills group may be a useful intervention for DSH.
  • Mental health services: the way forward: the perspectives of young people and parents

    Buckley, Sarah; Gavin, Blainid; Noctor, Colman; Devitt, Catherine; Guerin, Suzanne; The Way Forward Project Team (St Patrick's University Hospital, 2012-09)
  • Associations of homelessness and residential mobility with length of stay after acute psychiatric admission

    Tulloch, Alex D; Khondoker, Mizanur R; Fearon, Paul; David, Anthony S (2012-08-21)
    Abstract Background A small number of patient-level variables have replicated associations with the length of stay (LOS) of psychiatric inpatients. Although need for housing has often been identified as a cause of delayed discharge, there has been little research into the associations between LOS and homelessness and residential mobility (moving to a new home), or the magnitude of these associations compared to other exposures. Methods Cross-sectional study of 4885 acute psychiatric admissions to a mental health NHS Trust serving four South London boroughs. Data were taken from a comprehensive repository of anonymised electronic patient records. Analysis was performed using log-linear regression. Results Residential mobility was associated with a 99% increase in LOS and homelessness with a 45% increase. Schizophrenia, other psychosis, the longest recent admission, residential mobility, and some items on the Health of the Nation Outcome Scales (HoNOS), especially ADL impairment, were also associated with increased LOS. Informal admission, drug and alcohol or other non-psychotic diagnosis and a high HoNOS self-harm score reduced LOS. Including residential mobility in the regression model produced the same increase in the variance explained as including diagnosis; only legal status was a stronger predictor. Conclusions Homelessness and, especially, residential mobility account for a significant part of variation in LOS despite affecting a minority of psychiatric inpatients; for these people, the effect on LOS is marked. Appropriate policy responses may include attempts to avert the loss of housing in association with admission, efforts to increase housing supply and the speed at which it is made available, and reforms of payment systems to encourage this.
  • Initial diagnosis and treatment in first-episode psychosis: can an operationalized diagnostic classification system enhance treating clinicians' diagnosis and the treatment chosen?

    Coentre, Ricardo; Blanco, Pablo; Fontes, Silvina; Power, Paddy; Lambeth Early Onset Service, SouthLondon and Maudsley NHS Trust, London, UK. ricardo.coentre@netc.pt (2011-05)
    Diagnosis during the initial stages of first-episode psychosis is particularly challenging but crucial in deciding on treatment. This is compounded by important differences in the two major classification systems, International Classification of Diseases, 10th revision (ICD-10) and Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, fourth edition (DSM-IV). We aimed to compare the concordance between an operationalized diagnosis using Operational Criteria Checklist (OPCRIT) and treating clinician-generated diagnosis in first episode psychosis diagnosis and its correlation with treatment prescribed.
  • Gender differences in outcome at 2-year follow-up of treated bipolar and depressed alcoholics.

    Farren, Conor K; Snee, Laura; McElroy, Sharon; Department of Addiction Psychiatry, Trinity College Dublin, St. Patrick's University Hospital, Dublin 8, Ireland. cfarren@stpatsmail.com (2011-09)
    Alcohol dependence and affective disorders are significant health problems, and their co-occurrence is mutually detrimental. There are few long-term studies on the impact of treatment on the prognosis of these comorbid disorders. We wished to study if the impact of effective inpatient integrated treatment for these co-occurring disorders was maintained 2 years after discharge from the hospital.
  • Promoting psychiatry as a career option for Ghanaian medical students through a public-speaking competition.

    Agyapong, Vincent Israel Opoku; McLoughlin, Declan; Department of Psychiatry, University of Dublin, St Patrick’s University Hospital, Dublin, Ireland. israelhans@hotmail.com (2012-05-01)
    Authors assessed the impact of a public-speaking competition on the level of interest in psychiatry of Ghanaian medical students.
  • Shared care between specialised psychiatric services and primary care: The experiences and expectations of General Practitioners in Ireland.

    Agyapong, Vincent Israel Opoku; Jabbar, Faiza; Conway, Catherine; Department of Psychiatry, University of Dublin Trinity College. (2012-04-17)
    Objective. The study aims to explore the views of General Practitioners in Ireland on shared care between specialised psychiatric services and primary care. Method. A self-administered questionnaire was designed and posted to 400 randomly selected General Practitioners working in Ireland. Results. Of the respondents, 189 (94%) reported that they would support a general policy on shared care between primary care and specialised psychiatric services for patients who are stable on their treatment. However, 124 (61.4%) reported that they foresaw difficulties for patients in implementing such a policy including: a concern that primary care is not adequately resourced with allied health professionals to support provision of psychiatric care (113, 53.2%); a concern this would result in increased financial burden on some patients (89, 48.8%); a lack of adequate cooperation between primary care and specialised mental health services (84, 41.8%); a concern that some patients may lack confidence in GP care (55, 27.4%); and that primary care providers are not adequately trained to provide psychiatric care (29, 14.4% ). Conclusion. The majority of GPs in Ireland would support a policy of shared care of psychiatric patients; however they raise significant concerns regarding practical implications of such a policy in Ireland.
  • Childhood trauma and cognitive function in first-episode affective and non-affective psychosis.

    Aas, Monica; Dazzan, Paola; Fisher, Helen L; Morgan, Craig; Morgan, Kevin; Reichenberg, Abraham; Zanelli, Jolanta; Fearon, Paul; Jones, Peter B; Murray, Robin M; et al. (2011-06)
    A history of childhood trauma is reportedly more prevalent in people suffering from psychosis than in the general population. Childhood trauma has also been linked to cognitive abnormalities in adulthood, and cognitive abnormalities, in turn, are one of the key clinical features of psychosis. Therefore, this study investigated whether there was a relationship between childhood trauma and cognitive function in patients with first-episode psychosis. The potential impact of diagnosis (schizophrenia or affective psychosis) and gender on this association was also examined.
  • Criminal offending and distinguishing features of offenders among persons experiencing a first episode of psychosis.

    Hodgins, Sheilagh; Calem, Maria; Shimel, Rhiannon; Williams, Andrew; Harleston, Dionne; Morgan, Craig; Dazzan, Paola; Fearon, Paul; Morgan, Kevin; Lappin, Julia; et al. (2011-02)
    Persons with severe mental illness (SMI) are at increased risk of criminal offending, particularly violent offending, as compared with the general population. Most offenders with SMI acquire convictions prior to contact with mental health services. This study examined offending among 301 individuals experiencing their first episode of psychosis.
  • Shared care between specialized psychiatric services and primary care: the experiences and expectations of consultant psychiatrists in Ireland.

    Agyapong, Vincent I O; Conway, Catherine; Guerandel, Allys; University of Dublin Trinity College and St. Patrick's University Hospital, Dublin, Ireland. israelhans@hotmail.com (2011)
    Internationally, there has been a growing interest in the pursuit of collaborative forms of care for patients with enduring mental health difficulties.
  • Residential mobility among patients admitted to acute psychiatric wards

    Tulloch, Alex D.; Fearon, Paul; David, Anthony S. (2011)
  • Individualized prediction of illness course at the first psychotic episode: a support vector machine MRI study.

    Mourao-Miranda, J; Reinders, A A T S; Rocha-Rego, V; Lappin, J; Rondina, J; Morgan, C; Morgan, K D; Fearon, P; Jones, P B; Doody, G A; et al. (2012-05)
    To date, magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) has made little impact on the diagnosis and monitoring of psychoses in individual patients. In this study, we used a support vector machine (SVM) whole-brain classification approach to predict future illness course at the individual level from MRI data obtained at the first psychotic episode.
  • Mobile phone text message interventions in psychiatry - what are the possibilities?

    I.O. Agyapong, Vincent; K. Farren, Conor; M. McLoughlin, Declan (2011-02)
  • Mental health matters

    St Patrick's University Hospital (St Patrick's University Hospital, 2008-12-02)
  • Mental health matters

    St Patrick's University Hospital (St Patrick's University Hospital, 2008-02-12)

View more