Day centres for severe mental illness

Area of Science:

• Mental Health Research
• Psychiatric Care Interventions
• Evidence-Based Practice

Background:

• Increasing prevalence of severe mental illness treated in community settings.
• Day centers and day hospitals are common supplementary treatments.
• Need to evaluate the efficacy of non-medical day center care.

Purpose of the Study:

• To determine the effects of non-medical day center care for individuals with severe mental illness.
• To identify and synthesize evidence from randomized controlled trials.

Main Methods:

• Comprehensive electronic literature searches updated to September 2005.
• Inclusion criteria: randomized controlled trials of non-medical day center care for severe mental illness.
• Planned data extraction and analysis included Relative Risk (OR), Number Needed to Treat (NNT), and Weighted Mean Difference (WMD).

Main Results:

• Over 300 citations identified through electronic searches.
• No relevant trials meeting the inclusion criteria were found for the review.
• Absence of randomized controlled trials on non-medical day centers.

Conclusions:

• A significant lack of high-quality randomized controlled trials (RCTs) on non-medical day center care.
• Non-randomized studies provide conflicting information on the role and effectiveness of day centers.
• Urgent need for well-designed RCTs to inform clinical practice and patient decision-making.
• Pragmatic trials are recommended, especially when resources are limited, to ensure equitable provision of care.