McPin has supported lived experience involvement in developing PsyMetRiC, one of the first risk prediction tools specifically for psychosis in young people to be certified by the MHRA for use in real-world healthcare.
A new digital tool, developed with key input from young people with lived experience of psychosis, has been approved for use in clinical settings.
The PsyMetRiC (Psychosis Metabolic Risk Calculator) digital tool helps clinicians predict the risk of cardiometabolic disorders such as obesity, metabolic syndrome and diabetes in young people with psychosis.
PsyMetRiC, alongside a co-developed risk communication guide, will help by prompting meaningful discussions between patients and health professionals. This will encourage shared decision-making about preventative measures, interventions, and behavioural change that are acceptable, feasible and empowering for young people with psychosis
Young people falling through the gaps
Risk prediction tools have been used for many years by GPs to help them assess risk of physical health issues and possible interventions e.g. weight/BMI and weight management programmes, monitoring blood pressure, and who might need medications like statins in the future.
However, until now they weren’t designed for younger populations, and didn’t work accurately in people with psychosis.
Young people with experience of psychosis have a higher chance of developing physical health issues in the future, compared with the rest of the general population. This meant the very people who could benefit most from early interventions were not getting them.
The algorithms behind PsyMetRiC have been specifically tailored for young people with psychosis, and predict clinically significant weight gain within one year, metabolic syndrome within six years and type 2 diabetes within 10 years.
They were developed and tested using routine anonymised health data from over 25,000 young people with psychosis from the UK, who were followed up for over 20 years.
PsyMetRiC is designed to be as easy to use in clinical practice and acceptable to young people with psychosis as possible, needing only simple, routinely recorded information to make predictions. The tool was also tested to ensure it would work fairly for people from different, particularly under-served, backgrounds.
Find out more in today’s article in Lancet Psychiatry.
It’s fantastic to see PsyMetRiC make the transition from development to clinical use, where hopefully it can help reduce the number of young people going through what I have with my mental and physical health.
Dr Annabel Walsh, McPin Senior Public Involvement in Research Manager
Lived experience involvement in PsyMetRiC
The PsyMetRiC team prioritised feedback from stakeholders including clinicians, carers and young people with lived experience of psychosis when developing the tool.
McPin collaborated with The Centre for Mental Health and Equally Well UK to work with those with lived experience to ensure the app would deliver outcome measures that are meaningful in clinical practice and desired by patients. They also worked to ensure they are communicated appropriately – an essential consideration where behaviour change may be more important than prescribing.
Dr Benjamin Perry, Associate Clinical Professor of Psychiatry from the University of Birmingham, who led the development of PsyMetRiC, said:
“Input from the lived experience panel was critical to designing risk communication guides that are accessible and motivating for patients, showing how each risk factor contributes to an overall risk score, how this overall risk changes over time, and how interventions can reduce the overall risk.”
Dr Annabel Walsh, Senior Public Involvement in Research Manager at the McPin Foundation, who co-leads the lived experience involvement on PsyMetRiC alongside Equally Well UK, said:
“Having supported Dr Benjamin Perry, the co-development of PsyMetRiC and the young people involved for over six years, it’s fantastic to see PsyMetRiC make the transition from development to clinical use, where hopefully it can help reduce the number of young people going through what I have with my mental and physical health.”
As the young people state in our invited comment to be published alongside the main article: “We are all passionate in ensuring that PsyMetRiC is implemented well, such that it reaches its enormous potential in prompting an atmosphere of alliance between health-care professionals and young people with a lived experience of psychosis.”
Video the video Psychosis and health – predicting risks, preventing problems:
Find out more about lived experience in PsyMetRiC in the Lancet article, co-written with McPin Senior Public Involvement in Research Manager Dr Annabel Walsh: Lived experience perspectives on the development of a Psychosis Metabolic Risk Calculator (PsyMetRiC)
Meaningful in clinical practice
PsyMetRiC is suitable for use in both primary and secondary care, and designed specifically to inform rather than dictate clinical decisions.
The web application is certified with the UK’s Medicines & Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) as a Class 1 Medical Device. It is one of the first risk prediction tools specifically for psychosis in young people to be certified by the MHRA for use in real-world healthcare.
Users can sign up for a free account to use the app, after agreeing use terms, and confirming they are a health professional.
