scholarly journals Feasibility, Acceptability, and Preliminary Impacts of Web-Based Patient Education on Patients With Schizophrenia Spectrum Disorder: Quasi-Experimental Cluster Study (Preprint)

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anna Laine ◽  
Maritta Välimäki ◽  
Virve Pekurinen ◽  
Eliisa Löyttyniemi ◽  
Mauri Marttunen ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Patient Education ◽  
Self Esteem ◽  
Spectrum Disorder ◽  
Control Group ◽  
Schizophrenia Spectrum Disorder ◽  
Web Based ◽  
Illness Cognition ◽  
Refusal Rate ◽  
Schizophrenia Spectrum ◽  
Quasi Experimental

BACKGROUND Web-based interventions are promising tools for increasing the understanding of illness and treatment among patients with serious mental disorders. OBJECTIVE This study aimed to test the feasibility and acceptability of a Web-based patient education intervention using a quasi-experimental cluster design to report feedback on patient education sessions and the website used and to report preliminary evidence of the intervention’s impact on patients with schizophrenia spectrum disorder. METHODS A single-blind, parallel, quasi-experimental cluster study over a 6-month period comparing Web-based education (n=33) with a nonequivalent control group (treatment as usual, n=24) for people with schizophrenia spectrum disorder was conducted. Participants (N=57) were recruited from one psychiatric hospital (6 wards). Feasibility was assessed by participants’ commitment (refusal rate, dropout rate) to the study. Acceptability was assessed as participants’ commitment to the intervention. Patient education sessions and website feedback were assessed by the patients and health care professionals. The preliminary impact of the sessions on patients’ self-efficacy, self-esteem, illness cognition, and knowledge level was measured at baseline and follow-ups (8 weeks, 6 months) with self-rated questionnaires. RESULTS The refusal rate among patients was high with no statistically significant difference (69% [74/107] in the intervention group, 76% [76/100] in the control group; <italic>P</italic>=.21). The same result was found for the dropout rates (48% [16/33] vs 58% [14/24]; <italic>P</italic>=.46). The acceptability of the intervention was good; 31 participants out of 33 (94%) completed all five sessions. Feedback on the intervention was mainly positive; three out of four subscales of session were rated above the midpoint of 4.0. Feedback on the website was also positive, with a grade of good for content (69%, 20/29 patients; 75%, 21/28 professionals), layout (62%, 18/29 patients; 61%, 17/28 professionals), and usability (62%, 18/29 patients; and 68%, 19/28 professionals). The patients using the intervention had significantly higher scores 6 months after the sessions in self-efficacy (baseline mean 26.12, SD 5.64 vs 6-month mean 29.24, SD 6.05; <italic>P</italic>=.003) and regarding knowledge level about schizophrenia (mean 11.39, SD 4.65 vs 6-month mean 15.06, SD 5.26; <italic>P</italic>=.002), and lower scores in the subscale of helplessness in illness cognition (mean 2.26, SD 0.96 vs 6-month mean 1.85, SD 0.59; <italic>P</italic>=.03). Differences from the control group were not significant. No differences were found in patients’ self-esteem or other subscales in illness cognition. CONCLUSIONS The patients were reluctant to participate in the study and tended to drop out before the follow-ups. Once they had participated, their acceptance of the intervention was high. A more effective recruitment strategy and monitoring method will be needed in future studies. To assess the impact of the intervention, a more rigorous study design with an adequately powered sample size will be used in cooperation with outpatient mental health services.

scholarly journals Feasibility, Acceptability, and Preliminary Impacts of Web-Based Patient Education on Patients With Schizophrenia Spectrum Disorder: Quasi-Experimental Cluster Study

10.2196/13073 ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 21 (10) ◽  
pp. e13073
Author(s):  
Anna Laine ◽  
Maritta Välimäki ◽  
Virve Pekurinen ◽  
Eliisa Löyttyniemi ◽  
Mauri Marttunen ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Patient Education ◽  
Self Esteem ◽  
Spectrum Disorder ◽  
Control Group ◽  
Schizophrenia Spectrum Disorder ◽  
Web Based ◽  
Illness Cognition ◽  
Refusal Rate ◽  
Schizophrenia Spectrum ◽  
Quasi Experimental

Background Web-based interventions are promising tools for increasing the understanding of illness and treatment among patients with serious mental disorders. Objective This study aimed to test the feasibility and acceptability of a Web-based patient education intervention using a quasi-experimental cluster design to report feedback on patient education sessions and the website used and to report preliminary evidence of the intervention’s impact on patients with schizophrenia spectrum disorder. Methods A single-blind, parallel, quasi-experimental cluster study over a 6-month period comparing Web-based education (n=33) with a nonequivalent control group (treatment as usual, n=24) for people with schizophrenia spectrum disorder was conducted. Participants (N=57) were recruited from one psychiatric hospital (6 wards). Feasibility was assessed by participants’ commitment (refusal rate, dropout rate) to the study. Acceptability was assessed as participants’ commitment to the intervention. Patient education sessions and website feedback were assessed by the patients and health care professionals. The preliminary impact of the sessions on patients’ self-efficacy, self-esteem, illness cognition, and knowledge level was measured at baseline and follow-ups (8 weeks, 6 months) with self-rated questionnaires. Results The refusal rate among patients was high with no statistically significant difference (69% [74/107] in the intervention group, 76% [76/100] in the control group; P=.21). The same result was found for the dropout rates (48% [16/33] vs 58% [14/24]; P=.46). The acceptability of the intervention was good; 31 participants out of 33 (94%) completed all five sessions. Feedback on the intervention was mainly positive; three out of four subscales of session were rated above the midpoint of 4.0. Feedback on the website was also positive, with a grade of good for content (69%, 20/29 patients; 75%, 21/28 professionals), layout (62%, 18/29 patients; 61%, 17/28 professionals), and usability (62%, 18/29 patients; and 68%, 19/28 professionals). The patients using the intervention had significantly higher scores 6 months after the sessions in self-efficacy (baseline mean 26.12, SD 5.64 vs 6-month mean 29.24, SD 6.05; P=.003) and regarding knowledge level about schizophrenia (mean 11.39, SD 4.65 vs 6-month mean 15.06, SD 5.26; P=.002), and lower scores in the subscale of helplessness in illness cognition (mean 2.26, SD 0.96 vs 6-month mean 1.85, SD 0.59; P=.03). Differences from the control group were not significant. No differences were found in patients’ self-esteem or other subscales in illness cognition. Conclusions The patients were reluctant to participate in the study and tended to drop out before the follow-ups. Once they had participated, their acceptance of the intervention was high. A more effective recruitment strategy and monitoring method will be needed in future studies. To assess the impact of the intervention, a more rigorous study design with an adequately powered sample size will be used in cooperation with outpatient mental health services.

scholarly journals Transcranial direct current stimulation improves action-outcome monitoring in schizophrenia spectrum disorder

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Benjamin Straube ◽  
Bianca M van Kemenade ◽  
Tilo Kircher ◽  
Rasmus Schülke
Keyword(s):  
Direct Current ◽  
Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation ◽  
Efference Copy ◽  
Spectrum Disorder ◽  
Control Group ◽  
Schizophrenia Spectrum Disorder ◽  
Direct Current Stimulation ◽  
Schizophrenia Spectrum ◽  
Outcome Monitoring ◽  
Healthy Control

Abstract Patients with schizophrenia spectrum disorder often demonstrate impairments in action-outcome monitoring. Passivity phenomena and hallucinations, in particular, have been related to impairments of efference copy-based predictions which are relevant for the monitoring of outcomes produced by voluntary action. Frontal transcranial direct current stimulation has been shown to improve action-outcome monitoring in healthy subjects. However, whether transcranial direct current stimulation can improve action monitoring in patients with schizophrenia spectrum disorder remains unknown. We investigated whether transcranial direct current stimulation can improve the detection of temporal action-outcome discrepancies in patients with schizophrenia spectrum disorder. On 4 separate days, we applied sham or left cathodal/right anodal transcranial direct current stimulation in a randomised order to frontal (F3/F4), parietal (CP3/CP4) and frontoparietal (F3/CP4) areas of 19 patients with schizophrenia spectrum disorder and 26 healthy control subjects. Action-outcome monitoring was assessed subsequent to 10 min of sham/transcranial direct current stimulation (1.5 mA). After a self-generated (active) or externally generated (passive) key press, subjects were presented with a visual outcome (a dot on the screen), which was presented after various delays (0–417 ms). Participants had to detect delays between the key press and the visual consequence. Symptom subgroups were explored based on the presence or absence of symptoms related to a paranoid-hallucinatory syndrome. In general, delay-detection performance was impaired in the schizophrenia spectrum disorder compared to the healthy control group. Interaction analyses showed group-specific (schizophrenia spectrum disorder vs healthy control group) and symptom-specific (with/without relevant paranoid-hallucinatory symptoms) transcranial direct current stimulation effects. Post-hoc tests revealed that frontal transcranial direct current stimulation improved the detection of long delays in active conditions and reduced the proportion of false alarms in undelayed trials of the passive condition in patients. The patients with no or few paranoid-hallucinatory symptoms benefited especially from frontal transcranial direct current stimulation in active conditions, while improvement in the patients with paranoid-hallucinatory symptoms was predominantly reflected in reduced false alarm rates in passive conditions. These data provide some first evidence for the potential utility of transcranial direct current stimulation in improving efference copy mechanisms and action-outcome monitoring in schizophrenia spectrum disorder. Current data indicate that improving efference copy-related processes can be especially effective in patients with no or few positive symptoms, while intersensory matching (i.e. task-relevant in passive conditions) could be more susceptible to improvement in patients with paranoid-hallucinatory symptoms.

Mates of Schizophrenic Mothers

1985 ◽  
Vol 146 (5) ◽  
pp. 490-497 ◽  
Author(s):  
Josef Parnas
Keyword(s):  
Assortative Mating ◽  
Age Of Onset ◽  
Life Time ◽  
Spectrum Disorder ◽  
Control Group ◽  
Phenotypic Traits ◽  
Schizophrenia Spectrum Disorder ◽  
Schizophrenia Spectrum ◽  
Syndrome Diagnosis ◽  
Psychotic Features

SummaryBoth mates of schizophrenic mothers and a control group consisting of mates of non-schizophrenic mothers were diagnostically examined. The former were more frequently psychiatrically deviant than their controls, both with respect to a life-time syndrome diagnosis and a personality diagnosis. Mating between a schizophrenic mother and a father who suffered from schizophrenia spectrum disorder significantly increased the offspring's risk of developing a schizophrenia spectrum disorder himself. Assortative mating was negatively correlated with age of onset of maternal schizophrenia. It is proposed that defective emotional rapport or sub-psychotic features constitute the phenotypic traits by which assortative mating operates in schizophrenia.

Effects of Short-Term Mission Trips on Recipients’ Self-Esteem and Readiness for Self-Directed Learning

2021 ◽  
pp. 009164712110115
Author(s):  
Charissa H. W. Wong ◽  
Li Neng Lee ◽  
Alberto Pérez Pereiro
Keyword(s):  
Self Esteem ◽  
Control Group ◽  
Short Term ◽  
Self Directed Learning ◽  
Positive Effects ◽  
Post Test ◽  
Quasi Experimental ◽  
Directed Learning ◽  
Group Post ◽  
Mission Trips

Short-term Christian overseas volunteer trips, also known as short-term mission trips (STMs), have become increasingly prevalent (Howell & Dorr, 2007). However, research on these programs has been limited. This quasi-experimental study adds to the literature by quantitatively measuring the effects of an STM from Singapore to Thailand. STM recipients’ ( n = 44) self-esteem and readiness for self-directed learning (RSDL) were compared across timepoints – pre-test, post-test, follow-up – and with a control group ( n = 50). It was hypothesized that recipients would experience an increase in self-esteem and RSDL such that their scores would be higher than the control group post-STM. Results provide partial support for the hypotheses; while improvements among recipients were either not significant (for self-esteem) or not long-lasting (for RSDL), recipients had higher scores than the control group post-STM. This suggests that STMs have some, albeit limited, positive effects. Recommendations for promoting greater and longer-lasting effects are offered.

scholarly journals Acoustic speech markers for schizophrenia-spectrum disorders: a diagnostic and symptom-recognition tool

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-11
Author(s):  
J. N. de Boer ◽  
A. E. Voppel ◽  
S. G. Brederoo ◽  
H. G. Schnack ◽  
K. P. Truong ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Negative Symptoms ◽  
Structured Interview ◽  
Diagnostic Value ◽  
Spectrum Disorder ◽  
Psychotic Symptoms ◽  
Schizophrenia Spectrum Disorders ◽  
Schizophrenia Spectrum Disorder ◽  
Speech Technology ◽  
Schizophrenia Spectrum ◽  
Spectrum Disorders

Abstract Background Clinicians routinely use impressions of speech as an element of mental status examination. In schizophrenia-spectrum disorders, descriptions of speech are used to assess the severity of psychotic symptoms. In the current study, we assessed the diagnostic value of acoustic speech parameters in schizophrenia-spectrum disorders, as well as its value in recognizing positive and negative symptoms. Methods Speech was obtained from 142 patients with a schizophrenia-spectrum disorder and 142 matched controls during a semi-structured interview on neutral topics. Patients were categorized as having predominantly positive or negative symptoms using the Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale (PANSS). Acoustic parameters were extracted with OpenSMILE, employing the extended Geneva Acoustic Minimalistic Parameter Set, which includes standardized analyses of pitch (F0), speech quality and pauses. Speech parameters were fed into a random forest algorithm with leave-ten-out cross-validation to assess their value for a schizophrenia-spectrum diagnosis, and PANSS subtype recognition. Results The machine-learning speech classifier attained an accuracy of 86.2% in classifying patients with a schizophrenia-spectrum disorder and controls on speech parameters alone. Patients with predominantly positive v. negative symptoms could be classified with an accuracy of 74.2%. Conclusions Our results show that automatically extracted speech parameters can be used to accurately classify patients with a schizophrenia-spectrum disorder and healthy controls, as well as differentiate between patients with predominantly positive v. negatives symptoms. Thus, the field of speech technology has provided a standardized, powerful tool that has high potential for clinical applications in diagnosis and differentiation, given its ease of comparison and replication across samples.

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