Schizophrenia
Conditions
Keywords
mutual support group, psychoeducation group, family caregivers, schizophrenia
Brief summary
The mutual support group intervention would significantly improve the families' burden of care, functioning and social support, reduce the patients' severity of symptoms and re-hospitalizations, and reduce the demands for utilization of family services, when compared with the standard care group.
Detailed description
Family interventions in schizophrenia have shown positive effects on patients but little attention has been paid to their effects on family members, particularly those in non-Western countries. This multi-site randomized controlled trial evaluated the effectiveness of a bi-weekly, 12-session, family-led mutual support group for Chinese caregivers of schizophrenia sufferers over 36 months, compared with a family psychoeducation group program and standard psychiatric care. It was conducted with 114 families of outpatients with schizophrenia in Hong Kong of whom 38 were assigned randomly to a mutual support group, a psychoeducation group, or standard care. Families' psychosocial health status and patients' symptom severity and length of re-hospitalizations at recruitment, one-month, 18-month, and 36-month post-intervention were compared between groups.
Interventions
BEHAVIORALmutual support group
bi-weekly, 12-session, family-led mutual support group
BEHAVIORALpsychoeducation group
bi-weekly, 12-session, family psychoeducation group
OTHERStandard care
Routine mental health care services provided by the outpatient clinic and related agencies for families of people with schizophrenia
Sponsors
The Hong Kong Polytechnic University
Study design
Allocation
RANDOMIZED
Intervention model
PARALLEL
Primary purpose
HEALTH_SERVICES_RESEARCH
Masking
SINGLE (Outcomes Assessor)
Eligibility
Sex/Gender
ALL
Age
18 Years to 50 Years
Healthy volunteers
Yes
Inclusion criteria
* family caregivers lived with and cared for one family member diagnosed with schizophrenia according to the criteria of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, 4th edition (DSM-IV; American Psychiatric Association, 1994) * family caregivers were at least 18 years of age and could understand and read the Chinese (Mandarin) language; and * family caregivers were free from any mental illness themselves.
Exclusion criteria
* the patients with schizophrenia suffered no co-morbidity due to other mental illness during recruitment to the study * family caregivers cared for more than one family member with mental or chronic physical illness; and/or * family caregivers had been the primary carers for less than three months
Design outcomes
Primary
| Measure | Time frame |
|---|---|
| length of re-hospitalizations | at recruitment, six-month, 18-month and 36-month post-intervention |
Secondary
| Measure | Time frame |
|---|---|
| families' perceived social support | at recruitment, six-month, 18-month and 36-month post-intervention |
| patients' symptom severity | at recruitment, six-month, 18-month and 36-month post-intervention |
Countries
Hong Kong
Outcome results
None listed