Promoting Adherence to Treatment in Schizophrenia

University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA)

Status: Completed

Conditions: Schizophrenia

Treatments: Behavioral: multifamily group-standard; Behavioral: multifamily group-adherence

Study type: Interventional

Funder types: Other; NIH

Identifiers

NCT01125267

5R01MH064542-05 (U.S. NIH Grant/Contract)

Details and patient eligibility

About

The project evaluates a culturally adapted, family-based intervention designed to promote treatment adherence among Mexican-Americans with schizophrenia using a randomized, controlled design in a public mental health setting. Mexican-American patients with schizophrenia and their families were randomly assigned to either: 1) one year of multi- family groups that emphasize the importance of attitudes towards adherence, subjective norms, and self-perceived and actual adherence skills in maintaining adherence, added to ongoing customary outpatient care; 2) standard multi-family groups without an emphasis on medication adherence, added to customary outpatient care; or 3) customary outpatient care only (monthly pharmacotherapy sessions and additional services as clinically needed). The study hypotheses are that subjects assigned to the adapted multi-family group would have better medication adherence, less psychiatric symptoms and fewer psychiatric hospitalizations throughout the course of the study (one year of treatment and one year of follow up) compared to the comparison conditions.

Full description

As above

Enrollment: 174 patients

Sex: All

Ages: 18 to 50 years old

Volunteers: No Healthy Volunteers

Inclusion criteria

• DSM-IV diagnosis of schizophrenia or schizoaffective disorder;
• Between 18 and 50 years of age;
• Of Mexican origin and speaks Spanish fluently;
• Was without antipsychotic medication without medical authorization for one continuous week in the month prior to hospitalization;
• Was living with his/her family of origin immediately preceding the inpatient stay and would return to live with his/her family after discharge; and
• The patient and at least one family member were willing to participate.

Exclusion criteria

• Patient on conservatorship or legal guardian status

Trial design

Primary purpose: Treatment

Allocation: Randomized

Interventional model: Parallel Assignment

Masking: None (Open label)

---

174 participants in 3 patient groups

multifamily group-adherence

Experimental group

Description:

multifamily group treatment with a focus on improving adherence to antipsychotic medication

Treatment:

Behavioral: multifamily group-adherence

multifamily group-standard

Active Comparator group

Description:

multifamily group focused on problems identified by group participants

Treatment:

Behavioral: multifamily group-standard

treatment as usual

No Intervention group