Year: 2001 Source: Acta Psychiatrica Scandinavica, v.103, no.5, (May 2001), p.362-369 SIEC No: 20020364

The objective of this study was to evaluate the impact on outcome of a simple educational intervention in patients with schizophrenia at risk of relapse. At discharge, 114 patients with at least one previous episode were assigned randomly to a simple educational intervention which had no resource implications, or standard care. The intervention failed to improve outcome. While insight & treatment attitudes improved, suicidal ideation increased. Systematic management of treatment-emergent adverse effects offered no benefits, although incapacitation from extrapyramidal side-effects at discharge predicted relapse. It is concluded that there are limits to which psychoeducational interventions can be simplified without loss of effectiveness in terms of relapse prevention in schizophrenia. (53 refs.)