A Randomized Clinical Trial of Group Cognitive- Rehabilitation Therapy for Patients with Schizophrenia Resistant to Medication

Against the background of evidence-based treatments for schizophrenia resistant to medication,the implementation of cognitive- rehabilitation therapy (crt) becomes more important, especiallyabout patients who don’t response to medication. there is less evidence for group format and face- to facestructure of crt and also for resistant to medication patients. this research investigates the efficacy ofgcrt decreasing positive and negative symptoms of schizophrenia and improving cognitive function.methods: a randomized controlled trial was used to compare the efficacy of gcrt that of patients whoreceive treatment as usual (tau). from razi hospital in tehran, 40 inpatient people with schizophrenia resistantto medication and persistent negative and positive symptoms were assigned. patients were includedif they were aged 25 to 55 years; had diagnosis of schizophrenia for at least 2 years and were persistent tomedication for 2 years. 20 of them received a 16 session’s treatment over 2months and 20other ones werein waiting list. all patients received tau throughout the study. in all, 40 completed treatment. the positiveand negative symptoms scales, nosie & ncse completed for all patients before, in the middle andafter treatment.results: spss 11.5 and multivariate repeated measure was used. there were significant differences betweenthe gcbt and tau on positive and negative symptoms of schizophrenia. significant improvementwere found in the severity and number of positive (p= 0/05) and negative (p= 0/001) symptoms inpatients treated with gcrt. gcrt leaded to improvement in cognitive functions (p=0/001) but there wasno change in behavioral functions. in control group there were no significant differences between threemeasures (pre, middle and post).conclusion: gcrt is a useful adjunct therapy in the management of patients with schizophrenia resistantto medication in treating negative &positive symptoms as well as cognitive deficits.