Hearing voices in the context of mental health problems Mental and Behavioural Disorders
Conditions
Interventions
Randomisation:
In order to have a similar distribution of the study participants on both study-sides, randomization is carried out separately for both study sides as block randomizatio
Sponsors
University Hospital for Psychiatry and Psychotherapy
Eligibility
Sex/Gender
All
Inclusion criteria
Inclusion criteria: 1 Aged over 18 and under 65 years. This data is gathered from the patient record. 2. Presence of hearing voices or acoustic hallucination as a perception without external stimulus source. This criterion will be collected from the patient record and will be validated at the first contact before informed consent. 3. Experiencing distress from the voices. This will be validated with the Psychotic Symptom Rating Scales (PSYRATS) with at least one non-zero score on questions 8, 9, or 10. 4. Willingness to participate regularly in conversations about voice hearing: This will be validated at the first contact before informed consent.
Exclusion criteria
Exclusion criteria: 1. Inability to consent: This is regularly noted in the patient record by the doctor in charge. The nurses at the community mental health centers will be asked this question. 2. Not able to speak and understand (Swiss) German: This will be assessed by the study nurse based on the conversation at first contact. 3. Acuity: If the person is in an acute crisis situation and is unable to follow 15 minutes long conversation. This information can be obtained from the responsible nurse or doctor on the unit or can be assessed by the study nurse based on the first contact conversation.
Design outcomes
Primary
| Measure | Time frame |
|---|---|
| Characteristics of the voices and related burden assessed using the Psychotic Symptom Rating Scales (PSYRATS) at baseline (upon inclusion but before being assigned to the group; T0), after 10 appointments (T1), upon completion of the intervention (T2) and 6 months after completion of the intervention (follow-up; T3) | — |
Secondary
| Measure | Time frame |
|---|---|
| 1. Locus of control assessed using the Multidimensional Health Locus of Control Scale (MHLC, Form-C) at baseline (upon inclusion but before being assigned to the group; T0), after 10 appointments (T1), upon completion of the intervention (T2) and 6 months after completion of the intervention (follow-up; T3) 2. Personal Recovery assessed using the Questionnaire about the Process of Recovery (QPR) at baseline, T2 and T3 3. Subjective experience and meaning of psychosis or hearing voices assessed using the Subjective Sense in Psychosis Questionnaire (SUSE) at baseline, T2 and T3 4. Use of antipsychotic medication assessed using the patient's medical records, with the medication used converted into chlorpromazine equivalents, at baseline, T2 and T3 5. Psychopathology severity assessed using the Brief Psychiatric Rating Scale Expanded (BPRS-E) at baseline, T2 and T3 6. Qualitative assessment of the participant's views on the study burden and feasibility of a larger study assessed by interview at T2 7. Sociodemographic and health-related data assessed using an investigator-designed questionnaire at baseline, T1, T2 and T3 | — |
Countries
Germany, Switzerland
Contacts
Public ContactChristian Markus Burr
Outcome results
None listed