Clinical Research Directory

Biomarker Research on Ultra-High-Field MRI Combined With Visual Perception Assessment in the Diagnosis and Treatment Outcomes of Severe Mental Disorders

This is an observational study aiming to screen biomarkers associated with the diagnosis and treatment outcomes of severe mental disorders (MDD/major depressive disorder, SZ/schizophrenia, BD/bipolar disorder) through 7T ultra-high-field magnetic resonance multimodal imaging and visual perception assessment, thereby optimizing the objectivity and precision of clinical diagnosis and treatment. I. Core Research Objectives 1. Clarify the specific changes in visual perception behavior and brain imaging (metabolism, functional connectivity) of patients with severe mental disorders before and after treatment. 2. Establish a biomarker system related to disease diagnosis and treatment outcomes to make up for the limitation of current clinical reliance on phenomenological diagnosis. II. Study Subjects and Inclusion/Exclusion Criteria 1. Recruitment Scope * Patient group: MDD, SZ, and BD patients diagnosed in the Department of Psychiatry, the Second Affiliated Hospital of Zhejiang University School of Medicine. * Healthy control group: Healthy individuals without a history of mental illness recruited from the general population. 2. Key Criteria * Inclusion: Aged 18-45 years; meeting the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, 5th Edition (DSM-5) diagnostic criteria (for the patient group); no organic brain injury or severe physical illness; signing the informed consent form. * Exclusion: Organic brain diseases; severe physical illnesses (e.g., tumors); internal metal implants (e.g., cardiac pacemakers); claustrophobia or inability to tolerate MR examinations; pregnancy, etc. III. Core Study Procedures 1. All participants will undergo 2 sessions of 7T MRI scans (including MRS, fMRI, and other multimodal sequences), focusing on the MT+ brain region and V1 brain region respectively, with the scan order randomly balanced. 2. During the interval between the two MRI scans, participants will complete visual psychophysical experiments, cognitive function tests (e.g., BDT test), and clinical symptom collection. 3. The study will not interfere with routine clinical treatment and strictly adheres to the ethical standards of the Second Affiliated Hospital of Zhejiang University School of Medicine (Ethical Approval No.: 2025 Lun Shen Yan Di 0603). IV. Study Significance 1. Provide objective biomarkers for clinical practice to improve the accuracy of diagnosis and the scientificity of treatment effect evaluation for severe mental disorders. 2. Reveal the association mechanism between visual cortex-related brain networks and diseases, laying a theoretical foundation for precision diagnosis and treatment.

Medication Adherence in Severe Mental Illness: a Promotion Program

People living with serious mental illnesses such as schizophrenia and bipolar disorder often need long-term medication to stay well. However, many patients have difficulty taking medication regularly, which can increase the risk of relapse, hospitalization, and poorer quality of life. Traditionally, treatment adherence has been measured using self-report questionnaires, which may be influenced by memory or social desirability bias. With the recent expansion of electronic prescription systems in Spain, it is now possible to objectively verify whether patients collect their medications from the pharmacy. This provides a new opportunity to better understand and support treatment adherence. The ADHERA study will evaluate how well digital self-report questionnaires reflect real medication use compared with electronic dispensing records. We will also explore patient characteristics that may be associated with difficulties in medication adherence. Finally, we will test a new online psychoeducational program-including sessions led by mental health professionals and supported by peer-experience contributors-to determine whether it can help improve adherence. Participants with schizophrenia or bipolar disorder who are registered in the hospital's digital patient portal and have active antipsychotic prescriptions will be invited to complete brief adherence questionnaires online. Individuals with signs of reduced adherence will then be invited to take part in a telehealth intervention consisting of ten group sessions, where they will receive information, support, and practical strategies to maintain their treatment plan. Medication adherence will be reassessed after six months. If successful, this study may help improve how treatment adherence is measured in clinical practice, guide targeted interventions for individuals at higher risk of non-adherence, and provide evidence for scalable telehealth programs that can be easily implemented in other regions and medical conditions

Health-economic Evaluation of the IPS (Individual Placement and Support) Model for Helping People With Severe Mental Disorders Access Employment in the Ordinary Labor Market, Compared to Standard Methods of Helping People Return to Work: a Prospective Real-life Study

The Individual Placement and Support (IPS) model was developed in the United States in the 1990s to help people with severe mental health issues get back into regular jobs. This model is based on the idea that a quick job search that takes into account what patients want, followed by ongoing and intensive support in the community, is especially good for this group. To date, although the effectiveness of the IPS model has been widely demonstrated (for a review, see Metcalfe et al., 2018), only a few studies have evaluated its efficiency in foreign contexts (Knapp et al., 2013; Christensen et al., 2020). Although the IPS model has been in place in France for around ten years, no studies have yet been conducted to validate its efficiency in the French healthcare system. The main objective of this prospective, real-life, multicenter study is to evaluate the efficiency of the IPS practice model compared to the conventional method of follow-up by social workers for patients with severe mental illness in terms of cost per additional day worked, from a collective perspective.