title: Psychoeducation for schizophrenia.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Schizophrenia can be a severe and chronic illness characterised by lack of insight and poor compliance with treatment. Psychoeducational approaches have been developed to increase patients' knowledge of, and insight into, their illness and its treatment. It is supposed that this increased knowledge and insight will enable people with schizophrenia to cope in a more effective way with their illness, thereby improving prognosis.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  To assess the effects of psychoeducational interventions compared with standard levels of knowledge provision.
  
  
  METHODS
  We searched the Cochrane Schizophrenia Group Trials Register (February 2010).
  
  
  METHODS
  All relevant randomised controlled trials focusing on psychoeducation for schizophrenia and/or related serious mental illnesses involving individuals or groups. We excluded quasi-randomised trials.
  
  
  METHODS
  At least two review authors extracted data independently from included papers. We contacted authors of trials for additional and missing data. We calculated risk ratios (RR) and 95% confidence intervals (CI) of homogeneous dichotomous data. We used a fixed-effects model for heterogeneous dichotomous data. Where possible we also calculated the numbers needed to treat (NNT), as well as weighted means for continuous data.
  
  
  RESULTS
  This review includes a total of 5142 participants (mostly inpatients) from 44 trials conducted between 1988 and 2009 (median study duration ˜ 12 weeks, risk of bias - moderate). We found that incidences of non-compliance were lower in the psychoeducation group in the short term (n = 1400, RR 0.52 CI 0.40 to 0.67, NNT 11 CI 9 to 16). This finding holds for the medium and long term. Relapse appeared to be lower in psychoeducation group (n = 1214, RR 0.70 CI 0.61 to 0.81, NNT 9 CI 7 to 14) and this also applied to readmission (n = 206, RR 0.71 CI 0.56 to 0.89, NNT 5 CI 4 to 13). Scale-derived data also suggested that psychoeducation promotes better social and global functioning. In the medium term, treating four people with schizophrenia with psychoeducation instead of standard care resulted in one additional person showing a clinical improvement. Evidence suggests that participants receiving psychoeducation are more likely to be satisfied with mental health services (n = 236, RR 0.24 CI 0.12 to 0.50, NNT 5 CI 5 to 8) and have improved quality of life.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Psychoeducation does seem to reduce relapse, readmission and encourage medication compliance, as well as reduce the length of hospital stay in these hospital-based studies of limited quality. The true size of effect is likely to be less than demonstrated in this review - but, nevertheless, some sort of psychoeducation could be clinically effective and potentially cost beneficial. It is not difficult to justify better, more applicable, research in this area aimed at fully investigating the effects of this promising approach.
authors.affiliation: Cochrane Schizophrenia Group, University of Nottingham, Institute of Mental Health, Sir Colin Campbell Building,, University of Nottingham Innovation Park, Triumph Road,, Nottingham, UK, NG7 2TU.
authors.forename: Jun
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Xia
authors.forename: Lars Bertil
authors.initials: LB
authors.lastname: Merinder
authors.forename: Madhvi R
authors.initials: MR
authors.lastname: Belgamwar
mesh_terms: D001364:Awareness; D005190:Family; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D010349:Patient Compliance; D010353:Patient Education as Topic / Q000379:methods*; D011618:Psychotic Disorders / Q000534:rehabilitation; D016032:Randomized Controlled Trials as Topic; D012559:Schizophrenia / Q000534:rehabilitation*; D012565:Schizophrenic Psychology