Purpose and procedure

Evidence-Based Mental Health alerts clinicians to important advances in treatment, diagnosis, aetiology, prognosis, continuing education, economic evaluation, and qualitative research in mental health. We select and summarise the highest quality original and review articles. Experts in the field comment on the clinical relevance and context of each study.

Our target audience includes psychiatrists, psychologists, nurses, social workers, occupational therapists, pharmacists, and other professionals whose work may be enhanced by up to date research. Evidence-Based Mental Health is multidisciplinary. It covers studies of adults, children, older adults, people who have developed psychiatric or psychological problems as a result of trauma, and people with learning disabilities, head injuries, drug and alcohol problems, and personality disorders.

The Editorial team screens each issue of 52 leading journals for articles that meet our criteria and the following journals are regularly reviewed:

Acta Psychiatrica Scandinavica

Addiction

Age and Ageing

American Journal of Psychiatry

American Journal of Public Health

American Psychologist

Annals of Internal Medicine

Archives of General Psychiatry

Archives of Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine

Australian and New Zealand Journal of Psychiatry

British Medical Journal

Behaviour Research and Therapy

Behaviour Therapy

British Journal of Clinical Psychology

British Journal of General Practice

British Journal of Psychiatry

Canadian Journal of Psychiatry

Child Development

Clinical Psychology Review

Cochrane Library

Cognitive and Behavioral Practice

Developmental Medicine and Child Neurology

European Child and Adolescent Psychiatry

General Hospital Psychiatry

Health Psychology

International Journal of Behavioural Medicine

International Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry

Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA)

Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology

Journal of Abnormal Psychology

Journal of Affective Disorders

Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders

Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry

Journal of the American Geriatrics Society

Journal of Child and Adolescent Psychopharmacology Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry and Allied Disciplines

Journal of Clinical and Experimental Neuropsychology

Journal of Clinical Psychiatry

Journal of Clinical Psychopharmacology

Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology

Journal of Developmental and Behavioral Pediatrics

Journal of Neurology, Neurosurgery, and Psychiatry

Journal of Neuropsychiatry and Clinical Neurosciences

Journal of Psychosomatic Research

Lancet

New England Journal of Medicine

Pediatrics

Psychiatric Services

Psychiatry: Interpersonal and Biological Processes

Psychological Bulletin

Psychological Medicine

Psychology and Aging

Psychosomatic Medicine

Schizophrenia Bulletin

Social Science and Medicine

United Kingdom Health Technology Assessment Reports

We also assess journals nominated by our readers.

Articles are considered for inclusion in Evidence-Based Mental Health if they are:

• original or review articles
  
• in English
  
• about humans
  
• about topics that are important to clinical practice in the field of mental health
  
• use analysis techniques consistent with the study design.
  

• randomly allocate participants to comparison groups
  
• follow up a high proportion of the original participants (eg 80%)
  
• measure an outcome of known or probable clinical importance.
  

• collect data prospectively if possible
  
• identify a comparison group(s) for the outcome of interest
  
• mask outcome observers to exposure (this criterion is assumed to be met if the outcome is objective).
  

• include a spectrum of participants, some, but not all of whom have the disorder of interest
  
• include a diagnostic (gold) standard
  
• include information about reliability if possible (measure of agreement among observers, for example)
  
• ensure each participant receives both the new test and some form of the diagnostic standard
  
• interpret the diagnostic standard and the new test result independently, without knowledge of the other test.
  

• include an inception cohort of participants (first onset or assembled at a uniform point in the development of the disease), all initially free of the outcome of interest
  
• follow up at least 80% of the original participants.
  

• compare alternative diagnostic or therapeutic services or quality improvement strategies
  
• compare activities on the basis of the outcomes produced (effectiveness) and resources consumed (costs)
  
• include data from real (not hypothetical) participants from studies which meet the quality criteria for other articles described above
  
• present results in terms of the incremental or additional costs and outcomes of one intervention over another
  
• include a sensitivity analysis when there is uncertainty in the estimates or imprecision in measurement.
  

In review articles, at least one article included in the review must meet the quality criteria for treatment, diagnosis, prognosis, causation, and cost effectiveness studies described above. Review articles must also:

• clearly state the clinical topic
  
• describe sources and methods
  
• explicitly state inclusion and exclusion criteria for selecting articles.
  

• the content must relate to how people feel or experience situations that relate to mental health care
  
• data collection methods must be appropriate for qualitative studies. (For example, unstructured interviews, semi-structured interviews, participant observation of people in natural settings, focus groups, review of documents or text).
  

Relevant articles which meet these criteria are summarised using a structured abstract. Articles are reviewed by experts in the field who provide commentaries describing the context of the article, methodological problems that may affect interpretation, and recommendations for clinical application. If you are interested in writing an expert commentary, please contact Sam Vincent (sam.vincent@bazian.com). Where possible, the author of the original article is given an opportunity to review the abstract and commentary.

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