An intervention study to prevent relapse in patients with schizophrenia.
OBJECTIVE
To determine whether the use of relapse prevention plans (RPPs) in nursing practice is an effective intervention in reducing relapse rates among patients with schizophrenia.


METHODS
Experimental design. Patients with schizophrenia (or a related psychotic disorder) and nurses from three mental health organizations were randomly assigned to either an experimental (RPP) or control condition (care as usual). The primary outcome measure was the psychotic relapses in the research groups.


RESULTS
The relapse rates in the experimental and control groups after 1-year follow-up were 12.5% and 26.2%, respectively (p=. 12, ns). The relative risk of a relapse in the experimental versus the control group was 0.48 (ns).


CONCLUSIONS
In this study no statistically significant effects of the intervention were found. Effectiveness research in this area should be continued with larger sample sizes and longer follow-up periods.
van Meijel
B
B
Department of Nursing Science, University Medical Center Utrecht, 3508 AB Utrecht, The Netherlands. B.K.G.vanMeijel@umcutrecht.nl
Kruitwagen
C
C
van der Gaag
M
M
Kahn
R S
RS
Grypdonck
M H F
MH
D000223:Adaptation, Psychological; D000328:Adult; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D018572:Disease-Free Survival; D042241:Early Diagnosis; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009426:Netherlands; D009723:Nurse-Patient Relations; D009730:Nursing Assessment; D015403:Nursing Evaluation Research; D010347:Patient Care Planning / Q000458:organization & administration*; D010353:Patient Education as Topic; D010358:Patient Participation; D016016:Proportional Hazards Models; D011568:Psychiatric Nursing / Q000193:education / Q000458:organization & administration*; D011569:Psychiatric Status Rating Scales; D012008:Recurrence; D012559:Schizophrenia / Q000451:nursing / Q000517:prevention & control*; D012565:Schizophrenic Psychology; D012647:Self-Assessment; D012720:Severity of Illness Index