Text Size

Effectiveness of Family Group Interventions for People With Schizophrenia (MSG)

This study has been completed.
Sponsor:
Information provided by (Responsible Party):
Chien Wai-Tong, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University
ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier:
NCT00940394
First received: July 15, 2009
Last updated: August 15, 2012
Last verified: August 2012
History of Changes
  Purpose

The mutual support group intervention would significantly improve the families' burden of care, functioning and social support, reduce the patients' severity of symptoms and re-hospitalizations, and reduce the demands for utilization of family services, when compared with the standard care group.


Condition Intervention Phase
Schizophrenia
 Behavioral: mutual support group
Behavioral: psychoeducation group
Other: Standard care
 Phase 2

Study Type: Interventional
Study Design: Allocation: Randomized
Intervention Model: Parallel Assignment
Masking: Single Blind (Outcomes Assessor)
Primary Purpose: Health Services Research
Official Title: Evaluation of the Effects of Mutual Support and Psycho-educational Group Interventions for Family Caregivers of People With Schizophrenia

Resource links provided by NLM:

U.S. FDA Resources

Further study details as provided by The Hong Kong Polytechnic University:

Primary Outcome Measures:
  • length of re-hospitalizations [ Time Frame: at recruitment, six-month, 18-month and 36-month post-intervention ] [ Designated as safety issue: No ]

Secondary Outcome Measures:
  • families' perceived social support [ Time Frame: at recruitment, six-month, 18-month and 36-month post-intervention ] [ Designated as safety issue: No ]
  • patients' symptom severity [ Time Frame: at recruitment, six-month, 18-month and 36-month post-intervention ] [ Designated as safety issue: No ]

Enrollment: 128
Study Start Date: January 2007
Study Completion Date: December 2011
Primary Completion Date: September 2011 (Final data collection date for primary outcome measure)
Arms Assigned Interventions
standard care
Families receive routine community and family mental health care services
 Other: Standard care
Routine mental health care services provided by the outpatient clinic and related agencies for families of people with schizophrenia
Other Name: Usual psychiatric care
Experimental: mutual support group
bi-weekly, 12-session, family-led mutual support group
 Behavioral: mutual support group
bi-weekly, 12-session, family-led mutual support group
Other Name: FMSG
Active Comparator: psychoeducation group
bi-weekly, 12-session, family psychoeducation group program
 Behavioral: psychoeducation group
bi-weekly, 12-session, family psychoeducation group
Other Name: FPGP

Detailed Description:

Family interventions in schizophrenia have shown positive effects on patients but little attention has been paid to their effects on family members, particularly those in non-Western countries. This multi-site randomized controlled trial evaluated the effectiveness of a bi-weekly, 12-session, family-led mutual support group for Chinese caregivers of schizophrenia sufferers over 36 months, compared with a family psychoeducation group program and standard psychiatric care. It was conducted with 114 families of outpatients with schizophrenia in Hong Kong of whom 38 were assigned randomly to a mutual support group, a psychoeducation group, or standard care. Families' psychosocial health status and patients' symptom severity and length of re-hospitalizations at recruitment, one-month, 18-month, and 36-month post-intervention were compared between groups.

  Eligibility

Ages Eligible for Study:   18 Years to 50 Years
Genders Eligible for Study:   Both
Accepts Healthy Volunteers:   Yes
Criteria

Inclusion Criteria:

  • family caregivers lived with and cared for one family member diagnosed with schizophrenia according to the criteria of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, 4th edition (DSM-IV; American Psychiatric Association, 1994)
  • family caregivers were at least 18 years of age and could understand and read the Chinese (Mandarin) language; and
  • family caregivers were free from any mental illness themselves.

Exclusion Criteria:

  • the patients with schizophrenia suffered no co-morbidity due to other mental illness during recruitment to the study
  • family caregivers cared for more than one family member with mental or chronic physical illness; and/or
  • family caregivers had been the primary carers for less than three months
  Contacts and Locations
Please refer to this study by its ClinicalTrials.gov identifier: NCT00940394

Locations
Hong Kong
Li Ka Shing Specialty OPD
Sha Tin, NT, Hong Kong
AHNH Psychiatric OPD
Taipo, NT, Hong Kong
Sponsors and Collaborators
The Hong Kong Polytechnic University
Investigators
Principal Investigator: Chien Wai-Tong, PhD The Hong Kong Polytechnic University
  More Information

Additional Information:
Effectiveness of Psychoeducation and Mutual Support Group Program for Family Caregivers of Chinese People with Schizophrenia  This link exits the ClinicalTrials.gov site

Publications:

Responsible Party: Chien Wai-Tong, Professor, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University
ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT00940394     History of Changes
Other Study ID Numbers: 216020
Study First Received: July 15, 2009
Last Updated: August 15, 2012
Health Authority: Hong Kong: The Chinese University of Hong Kong / The Hong Kong Polytechnic University

Keywords provided by The Hong Kong Polytechnic University:
mutual support group
psychoeducation group
family caregivers
schizophrenia

Additional relevant MeSH terms:
Schizophrenia
Schizophrenia and Disorders with Psychotic Features
Mental Disorders

ClinicalTrials.gov processed this record on June 18, 2013