Skip Navigation



Schizophrenia Bulletin Advance Access published online on August 20, 2008
Schizophrenia Bulletin, doi:10.1093/schbul/sbn102
This Article
Right arrow Full Text Freely available
Right arrow FREE Full Text (PDF) Freely available
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Services
Right arrow Email this article to a friend
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in PubMed
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Add to My Personal Archive
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrowRequest Permissions
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Hodge, M. A. R.
Right arrow Articles by Harris, A.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by Hodge, M. A. R.
Right arrow Articles by Harris, A.
Social Bookmarking
Add to CiteULike   Add to Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us  
What's this?

© The Author 2008. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Maryland Psychiatric Research Center. All rights reserved. For permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oxfordjournals.org.

A Randomized Controlled Trial of Cognitive Remediation in Schizophrenia

Marie Antoinette Redoblado Hodge1,2, Daniella Siciliano3, Pamela Withey4, Beverley Moss5, Genevieve Moore6, Gaby Judd7, E. Arthur Shores2 and Anthony Harris8,9
2 Macquarie University, Psychology and Linguistics
3 Psychological Medicine, Children's Hospital at Westmead
4 Prevention Early Intervention and Recovery Services, Sydney West Area Health Service
5 Ryde Community Mental Health, Northern Sydney and Central Coast Area Health Service
6 Macquarie Hospital
7 Early Psychosis Intervention Services, Northern Sydney and Central Coast Area Health Services
8 Psychological Medicine, The University of Sydney
9 The Brain Dynamics Centre, The University of Sydney

1 To whom correspondence should be addressed; tel: +612 9351 0719, fax: +612 9351 0855; e-mail: antoinetterh{at}med.usyd.edu.au.

Individuals with schizophrenia have consistently been found to exhibit cognitive deficits, which have been identified as critical mediators of psychosocial functional outcomes. Recent reviews of cognitive remediation (CRT) have concluded that these deficits respond to training. This multi-site community study examined 40 individuals with schizophrenia who underwent cognitive remediation using the Neuropsychological Educational Approach to Remediation1 (NEAR). Assessments using the same neuropsychological tests and measures of psychosocial outcome were made at four time points: baseline, before start of active intervention, end of active intervention and 4 months after end of active intervention. Dose of antipsychotic medication remained constant throughout the study period. After participating in NEAR, individuals showed significant improvements in verbal and visual memory, sustained attention and executive functioning. This effect persisted 4 months after the treatment ceased. The average effect size was mild to moderate. Social and occupational outcomes also improved from baseline to post-treatment, which persisted 4 months later. Our findings replicate those of previous studies that suggest that NEAR is effective in improving cognition in individuals with schizophrenia in a naturalistic and ecologically valid setting. Further it extends such findings to show a generalisation of effects to social/occupational outcomes and persistence of effects in the short term.

Keywords: cognitive remediation / schizophrenia


Add to CiteULike CiteULike   Add to Connotea Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us Del.icio.us    What's this?




Disclaimer: Please note that abstracts for content published before 1996 were created through digital scanning and may therefore not exactly replicate the text of the original print issues. All efforts have been made to ensure accuracy, but the Publisher will not be held responsible for any remaining inaccuracies. If you require any further clarification, please contact our Customer Services Department.