Background There is currently much focus on provision of general physical health advice to people with serious mental illness and there has been increasing pressure for services to take responsibility for providing this. Objectives To review the effects of general physical healthcare advice for people with serious mental illness. Search methods We searched the Cochrane Schizophrenia Group's Trials Register (last update search October 2012) which is based on regular searches of CINAHL, BIOSIS, AMED, EMBASE, PubMed, MEDLINE, PsycINFO and registries of Clinical Trials. There is no language, date, document type, or publication status limitations for inclusion of records in the register. Selection criteria All randomised clinical trials focusing on general physical health advice for people with serious mental illness.. Data collection and analysis We extracted data independently. For binary outcomes, we calculated risk ratio (RR) and its 95% confidence interval (CI), on an intention-to-treat basis. For continuous data, we estimated the mean difference (MD) between groups and its 95% CI. We employed a fixed-effect model for analyses. We assessed risk of bias for included studies and created 'Summary of findings' tables using GRADE. Main results Seven studies are now included in this review. For the comparison of physical healthcare advice versus standard care we identified six studies (total n = 964) of limited quality. For measures of quality of life one trial found no difference (n = 54, 1 RCT, MD Lehman scale 0.20, CI-0.47 to 0.87, very low quality of evidence) but another two did for the Quality of Life Medical Outcomes Scale-mental component (n = 487, 2 RCTs, MD 3.70, CI 1.76 to 5.64). There was no difference between groups for the outcome of death (n = 487, 2 RCTs, RR 0.98, CI 0.27 to 3.56, low quality of evidence). For service use two studies presented favourable results for health advice, 1 General physical health advice for people with serious mental illness (Review)

Background Current guidance suggests that we should monitor the physical health of people with serious mental illness and there has been a significant financial investment over recent years to provide this. Objectives To assess the effectiveness of physical health monitoring as a means of reducing morbidity, mortality and reduction in quality of life in people with serious mental illness. Search methods We searched the Cochrane Schizophrenia Group Trials Register (October 2009) which is based on regular searches of CINAHL, EMBASE, MEDLINE and PsycINFO. We updated this search October 2012 and added 61 new trials to the awaiting assessment section. Selection criteria All randomised or quasi-randomised clinical trials focusing on physical health monitoring versus standard care or comparing i) self monitoring vs monitoring by health care professional; ii) simple vs complex monitoring; iii) specific vs non-specific checks iv) once only vs regular checks or v) comparison of different guidance. Data collection and analysis The authors (GT, AC, SM) independently screened search results and identified three studies as possibly fulfilling the review's criteria. On examination, however, all three were subsequently excluded. Main results We did not identify any randomised trials which assessed the effectiveness of physical health monitoring in people with serious mental illness.

Background There is currently much focus on provision of general physical health advice to people with serious mental illness and there has been increasing pressure for services to take responsibility for providing this. Objectives To assess the effects of general physical health advice as a means of reducing morbidity, mortality and improving or maintaining quality of life in people with serious mental illness. Search strategy We searched the Cochrane Schizophrenia Group Trials Register (November 2009) which is based on regular searches of CINAHL, EMBASE, MEDLINE and PsycINFO. Selection criteria All randomised clinical trials focusing on general physical health advice. Data collection and analysis We extracted data independently. For binary outcomes we calculated risk ratio (RR) and its 95% confidence interval (CI), on an intention-to-treat basis. For continuous data we estimated mean difference (MD) between groups and its 95% CI. We employed a random-effects model for analyses. Main results For the comparison of physical healthcare advice versus standard care we identified five studies (total n = 884) of limited quality. For measures of quality of life one trial found no difference (n = 54, 1 RCT, MD Lehman scale 0.00 CI-0.67 to 0.67) but another did (n = 407, 1 RCT, MD Quality of Life Medical Outcomes Scale-mental component 3.7 CI 1.7 to 5.6). There was no difference between groups for the outcome of death (n = 407, 1 RCT, RR 1.3 CI 0.3 to 6.0), for the outcome of uptake of ill-health prevention services, one study found percentages significantly greater in the advice group (n = 363, 1 RCT, MD 36.9 CI 33.1 to 40.7). Economic data were equivocal. Attrition was large (> 30%) but similar for both groups (n = 884, 5 RCTs, RR 1.18 CI 0.97 to 1.43). Comparisons of one type of physical healthcare advice with another were grossly underpowered and equivocal.

Background Current guidance suggests that we should monitor the physical health of people with serious mental illness and there has been a significant financial investment over recent years to provide this. Objectives To assess the effectiveness of physical health monitoring as a means of reducing morbidity, mortality and reduction in quality of life in people with serious mental illness. Search methods We searched the Cochrane Schizophrenia Group Trials Register (October 2009) which is based on regular searches of CINAHL, EMBASE, MEDLINE and PsycINFO. We updated this search October 2012 and added 61 new trials to the awaiting assessment section. Selection criteria All randomised or quasi-randomised clinical trials focusing on physical health monitoring versus standard care or comparing i) self monitoring vs monitoring by health care professional; ii) simple vs complex monitoring; iii) specific vs non-specific checks iv) once only vs regular checks or v) comparison of different guidance. Data collection and analysis The authors (GT, AC, SM) independently screened search results and identified three studies as possibly fulfilling the review's criteria. On examination, however, all three were subsequently excluded. Main results We did not identify any randomised trials which assessed the effectiveness of physical health monitoring in people with serious mental illness.

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