Effects of Psychosocial Day Care Programme on Quality of Life in Patients Affected with Schizophrenia - a Prospective Study.
BACKGROUND
The basic aim of this prospective research was to establish the effect of psychosocial day care programme on the therapy outcomes in patients with schizophrenia.


METHODS
While 115 patients with schizophrenia were invited to participate, 100 of them completed the study and were subdivided into two groups. In addition to pharmacotherapy, the experimental group only (N=50) was integrated into a day-hospital-based psychosocial day care programme. The instruments were applied in three phases: the first measurement for experimental group subjects took place on the first day of psychosocial day-care programme, while for the control group subjects the same was performed on the last day of inpatient care. The second measurement for the experimental group was performed in the end of psychosocial day-care programme, while for the control group patients it occurred four months after inpatient treatment. The third measurement was carried out six months after the second one. The following instruments were applied: General Demographic Questionnaire at the first measurement, Manchester Short Assessment of Quality of Life-MANSA both at the first and third measurement, and Positive and Negative Symptoms Scale-PANSS at all three measurements.


RESULTS
Experimental group patients showed a statistically significant increase in quality of life outcomes as well as statistically significant decrease in positive symptoms and general psychopathology at all three measurements and with regard to the control group. As to the negative symptoms, only the third measurement revealed a statistically significant difference.


CONCLUSIONS
The results obtained indicate that the adjuvant treatment of psychosocial day care programme has a positive effect on treatment outcomes: on the increase of the patients' quality of life, and, to some extent, on the decrease of symptom intensity in positive symptoms in schizophrenia spectrum. However, the effect of psychosocial day-care programme on the negative symptoms was proved to be considerably smaller.
Psychiatry Clinic, Clinical Hospital Centre, Cambierieva 17/7, 51000 Rijeka, Croatia, tanjagj1@gmail.com.
Tanja Grahovac
TG
Juretić
Klementina
K
Ružić
Marina
M
Letica-Crepulja
Daniela
D
Petrić
Elizabeta
E
Dadić-Hero
Tanja
T
Frančišković
D000328:Adult; D014150:Antipsychotic Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D003631:Day Care, Medical / Q000379:methods*; D005260:Female; D006760:Hospitalization; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011446:Prospective Studies; D011788:Quality of Life; D012559:Schizophrenia / Q000628:therapy*; D012565:Schizophrenic Psychology; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D016896:Treatment Outcome
D014150:Antipsychotic Agents