Social Skills Training in Refractory Schizophrenia

NCT ID: NCT00791882

Last Updated: 2009-11-30

Study Results

Results pending

The study team has not published outcome measurements, participant flow, or safety data for this trial yet. Check back later for updates.

Basic Information

Get a concise snapshot of the trial, including recruitment status, study phase, enrollment targets, and key timeline milestones.

Recruitment Status

UNKNOWN

Clinical Phase

NA

Total Enrollment

92 participants

Study Classification

INTERVENTIONAL

Study Start Date

2009-08-31

Study Completion Date

2011-08-31

Brief Summary

Review the sponsor-provided synopsis that highlights what the study is about and why it is being conducted.

Objective Primary:

To evaluate the efficacy of social skills training in reducing negative symptoms in patients with refractory schizophrenia, in comparison with control (befriending group).

Secondary:

To evaluate changes in social functioning.

To evaluate the effect of SST in other dimensions of psychopathology: positive symptoms, depression and general psychopathology.

To evaluate the impact of SST in cognition.

Hypothesis Social skills training is more effective than control group (Befriending) in reducing negative symptoms in patients with refractory schizophrenia.

Detailed Description

Dive into the extended narrative that explains the scientific background, objectives, and procedures in greater depth.

In schizophrenia positive symptoms can be improved with an antipsychotic treatment. However there is a subgroup of patients who have a predominance of persistent negative symptoms that do not respond to antipsychotic treatment, such as blunted affect , emotional and social withdrawal, and there is evidence that such symptoms can improve with psychosocial interventions.

The objective of this study is to evaluate the efficacy of Social Skills Training on negative symptoms in patients with refractory schizophrenia by means of a randomized, single-blind controlled trial with the duration of a year, including, follow up.

This study will be conducted in two groups: one group will receive social skills training (N=46) and a control group (N=46) will attend the same number of sessions, but without intervention of the therapists (befriending).

Psychiatric, psychological and neuropsychological aspects will be evaluated at baseline, after 20 weeks and 6 months after the end of the intervention.

The scales that will be used for the psychiatric assessments are: PANSS (reduction of 20% in the negative subscale), CGI, CALGARY, SDS, and PSP, As well as the Social Skills Inventory IHS. The neuropsychological assessment will have groups of scales to measure: Attention, Memory, Executive Functions, Estimated Intellectual Efficiency and a ToM. For statistical , the repeated measure ANOVA will be used, as well as the effect size and number needed to treat.

Conditions

See the medical conditions and disease areas that this research is targeting or investigating.

Schizophrenia and Disorders With Psychotic Features

Study Design

Understand how the trial is structured, including allocation methods, masking strategies, primary purpose, and other design elements.

Allocation Method

RANDOMIZED

Intervention Model

PARALLEL

Primary Study Purpose

TREATMENT

Blinding Strategy

SINGLE

Participants

Study Groups

Review each arm or cohort in the study, along with the interventions and objectives associated with them.

1

Group of behaviors by which someone express feelings, attitudes, wishes,opinions and rights , in an adequate manner regarding situation and context.

Social skills are the substrate for social competence, which is the ability to find and legitimate relevant and personal goals

Group Type EXPERIMENTAL

Social Skills Training

Intervention Type BEHAVIORAL

A program developed during 20 weeks according to adapted BELLACK 's manual (1997),including sessions in group one hour per week.

2

Control group will attend the same number of sessions, but without intervention of the therapists

Group Type NO_INTERVENTION

Social Skills Training

Intervention Type BEHAVIORAL

A program developed during 20 weeks according to adapted BELLACK 's manual (1997),including sessions in group one hour per week.

Interventions

Learn about the drugs, procedures, or behavioral strategies being tested and how they are applied within this trial.

Social Skills Training

A program developed during 20 weeks according to adapted BELLACK 's manual (1997),including sessions in group one hour per week.

Intervention Type BEHAVIORAL

Other Intervention Names

Discover alternative or legacy names that may be used to describe the listed interventions across different sources.

Social Skills Training and Control group without active intervention.

Eligibility Criteria

Check the participation requirements, including inclusion and exclusion rules, age limits, and whether healthy volunteers are accepted.

Inclusion Criteria

* Diagnosis of schizophrenia can´t not be over 10 years old.
* Age between 18 and 55 years old.
* A minimum of 16 in negative subscale of PANSS.
* A score 4 in at least 3 of the following symptoms:

* blunted affect
* social withdrawal
* rapport
* passive social withdrawal
* lack of spontaneity
* motor retardation
* active social avoidance
* Stable disease, in use of clozapine, without recent hospitalization.

Exclusion Criteria

* Comorbid substance use.
* Axis I comorbidity.
* History of head trauma or neurological disease.
* Clinical problems which can affect central nervous system.
* Mental retardation.
* Patients treated with other antipsychotic than clozapine.
* Patients who underwent other psychosocial treatments.
Minimum Eligible Age

18 Years

Maximum Eligible Age

55 Years

Eligible Sex

ALL

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

No

Sponsors

Meet the organizations funding or collaborating on the study and learn about their roles.

University of Sao Paulo

OTHER

Sponsor Role lead

Responsible Party

Identify the individual or organization who holds primary responsibility for the study information submitted to regulators.

Instituto de Psiquiatria da Faculdade de Medicina da Universidade de São Paulo

Principal Investigators

Learn about the lead researchers overseeing the trial and their institutional affiliations.

Helio Elkis, MD PhD

Role: PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR

Departamento de Psiquiatria da FMUSP

Locations

Explore where the study is taking place and check the recruitment status at each participating site.

Instituto de Psiquiatria do HCFMUSP

São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil

Site Status RECRUITING

Countries

Review the countries where the study has at least one active or historical site.

Brazil

Central Contacts

Reach out to these primary contacts for questions about participation or study logistics.

Helio Elkis, MD PhD

Role: CONTACT

Phone: + 55 11 30697531

Email: [email protected]

Silvia Scemes, BSc

Role: CONTACT

Phone: + 55 11 30697808

Email: [email protected]

Facility Contacts

Find local site contact details for specific facilities participating in the trial.

Silvia Scemes, BSc

Role: primary

Other Identifiers

Review additional registry numbers or institutional identifiers associated with this trial.

SST

Identifier Type: -

Identifier Source: org_study_id