Xiaofeng Guo, M.D., and Jinguo Zhai, M.D., and colleagues evaluated this combination of therapies in 1,268 patients with early-stage schizophrenia treated from 2005 to 2007. A total of 633 were randomly assigned to receive schizophrenia drugs plus a psychosocial intervention involving 48 one-hour group sessions.
The psychosocial intervention included four evidence-based practices: psychoeducation (instruction for families and caregivers about mental illness), family intervention (teaching coping and socializing skills), skills training and cognitive behavioral therapy.
The other 635 patients received medication alone.
Rates of treatment discontinuation or change were 32.8 percent in the combined treatment group, compared with 46.8 percent in the medication-only group. The risk of relapse was lower among patients in the combination group, occurring in 14.6 percent of patients in that group and 22.5 percent of patients in the medication-only group.
The combined treatment group also exhibited greater improvements in insight, social functioning, activities of daily living and on four domains of quality of life, and a significantly higher proportion of them were employed or received education. There were no significant differences in either frequency or type of adverse events between the groups.
Early Meds, Counseling Aid Schizophrenia
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