Participants:

Jean Campbell, moderator  Crystal Blyler  Sally Clay  Patrick Corrigan  Dianne Cote  Jaime Delgado  Sita Diehl  Zahira DuVall  Stephen Fischer  Matt Johnsen  Lorraine Keck  Anika Keens-Douglas   Ed Kramer  Sarah Lickey  Danyelle Mannix  Alison McCaid  Brian McCorkle

Carol Mussey  o-Anne O'Connor  Ruth Ralph  Jean Risman  Sally Rogers  Mark Salzer  Bonnie Schell  James Scott  Steve Segal  Carol Silverman  Paula Stockdale  Jean Stofer  Tom Summerfelt  Greg Teague  Daphne Walker-Thoth  Brian Yates

Telecommunication Issues

Jean Campbell indicated that some arrangements have been made to get people information by fax or mail, but there are several problems that haven't been resolved. One problem is that MIMH is on a spam list and we have been turned off at some commercial sites. Vicki Wieselthier will be returning by the end of the week.

Notes

Daphne Walker-Thoth asked that corrections for the teleconference notes posted on the list serv be sent to her so that corrected versions of notes can be kept on file.

Substance Use Introduction

Matt Johnsen and Tom Summerfelt recommended that an introduction be added to the substance use section reminding participants that the information is confidential. There were no objections.

Victimization/Sexual and Physical Abuse Ruth Ralph moved that the PSTD scale (parts I, II, and III) with the checklist instead of the open-ended question be included in the common protocol. This would replace what is currently on page 8 of the protocol. The motion was seconded by Ed Kramer and passed with 15 votes in favor and 1 abstention.

Symptom Self-Report Scale Crystal Blyler presented the following recommendation in behalf of the Symptoms Work Group: To use the Brief Symptom Inventory (BSI), plus the 5-item mania scale and the 8-item psychocism of symptom measure from the CSI to measure symptoms. The motion passed with 11 votes in favor, 1 vote against, and 6 abstentions. Some members expressed a desire for a shorter measure. It was suggested that because the BSI is widely used, there should be a shorter version. Crystal explained that this is a smaller version of the SCL-90. Mark mentioned that there is an SCL-25. Some concern was expressed about the mania scale. On behalf of the Consumer Advisory Panel, Zahira DuVall presented the following related recommendation in order to tease out symptoms from side effects of medication: That the 21 items from the BSI be included on page 21 of the common protocol in a yes/no format (card can be used for respondents to pick all that apply). The motion was seconded by Ed Kramer. It failed with 7 votes against, 6 votes in favor, and 5 abstentions. The CAP can now present another recommendation on a subsequent teleconference. CAP felt strongly that the items listed as symptoms in the BSI might be side effects of medication and it wanted to have a way to tease this out. Patrick Corrigan suggested that if we are going to measure side effects, that we review the literature and use existing scales. It was pointed out that CAP wasn't trying to "measure" side effects, but just to help describe the population and ensure that side effects weren't labeled as symptoms. Health Question

Brian McCorkle moved that the following question be added to the common protocol on Page 22: "In the past 4 months, have you ever had trouble getting the physical health care you wanted or needed because you are a mental health consumer?" The question would carry a scale with categories of never, a few times, often, all of the time, or skipped or no answer. The motion was seconded by Tom Summerfelt and passed with 15 votes in favor and 2 abstentions.

Qualitative Items On behalf of the Qualitative Research Subcommittee Group, Carol Silverman recommended that the following two open-ended questions be added to the common protocol: "What would make your life better right now?" and "We've covered a lot of ground, are there any thoughts or issues that you'd like to talk about?" The first question would be placed right after question #14 in the demographic section and the second question would be at the very end of the protocol. The motion passed with 16 votes in favor and 1 abstention.

Hope Scale Sally Rogers called the author about the question regarding a light in a tunnel. The author has had lots of problems with this question. At first she recommended dropping it, but then called back and said she was replacing the question with the following one: "I can see options/ possibilities in difficult situations." Sally moved that we replace the tunnel question with the author's new item. The motion was seconded by Ruth Ralph and passed with no objections.

Lifetime Hospitalization Jean Campbell reported that the Coordinating Center was supposed to review the last notes from the face-to-face meeting to see what was decided about lifetime hospitalization. The following was taken from the April 13 notes: It was suggested that question #15 in the health section needs to ask for the number of lifetime hospitalizations for mental health treatment and that a range should be included. We also need to know the age of the first hospitalization and that month and year of the most recent discharge from the hospital. Matt recommended that ranges be added for the hospitalization questions and the date that indicates the most recent discharge. Ranges will go from 0, 1, 2-5, 6-10, 11-20, and more than 20. A question will be added asking the age of first hospitalization for psychiatric or emotional problem. A question will be added asking the age the respondent first received mental health treatment. A question will be added about the month and year of the most recent discharge from the hospital for psychiatric or emotional problems. At Sarah Lickey's recommendation, question #18 would be changed to read: "How many times in life have you been treated in an inpatient substance treatment program?" These hospitalization questions would only be asked at baseline. The motion was seconded by Ruth and passed with no objections. The purpose of the questions was to serve as an indicator of severity.

City/County Residence County was added to the question for the rural areas. Tom Summerfelt moved that the residence question be removed from the common protocol with the understanding that sites would deliver some type of this information to the data repository-the format is to be decided upon later. The motion was seconded by Ruth and passed with 11 votes in favor, 1 vote against, and 4 abstentions.

Next Teleconference The next SC teleconference was scheduled for Friday, May 28 from 2:00 ­ 3:30 p.m. ET. The agenda will include a report from the Logistics Subcommittee and the formatting and implementation of the common protocol.

Missouri Institute of Mental Health5400 Arsenal StreetSt. Louis, Missouri 63139
Phone: 314-877-6457 Fax: 314-877-6477