Assessing the Feasibility of Metacognitive Training for Patients with Schizophrenia in Pakistan: A Randomized Controlled Trial

Abstract

Background: Schizophrenia is a grave and incapacitating global mental health challenge. Prior research has proposed various psychological interventions aimed at alleviating the severity of schizophrenia symptoms in developing nations. Notably, in Pakistan, there exists a notable dearth of research efforts directed at tackling this issue and implementing strategies to bridge this gap. This study endeavors to create a distinctive intervention tailored to enhance the severity of symptoms experienced by individuals grappling with schizophrenia in Pakistan.

Methods: This study used a pre-post design with a double-blinded, two-arm, randomized controlled trial. Sixty participants were recruited from psychiatric departments in hospitals in Rawalpindi and Islamabad from August to November 2022. They were divided into two groups: an experimental group (30 participants) and a control group (30 participants). To assess the impact of an intervention, four measurement tools were used to gauge symptom severity, cognitive insight, disability, and quality of life in individuals with schizophrenia. The study employed a two-way factorial analysis of variance (ANOVA) to evaluate the effectiveness of metacognitive therapy (MCT) in reducing symptoms, improving cognitive insight, reducing disability, and enhancing quality of life.

Results: The study's outcomes revealed that, when compared to the standard treatment, metacognitive therapy (MCT) yielded positive effects in ameliorating both symptom severity and cognitive insight among individuals diagnosed with schizophrenia. Conversely, the results indicated that MCT did not yield statistically significant improvements in the domains of quality of life and disability in this cohort of schizophrenia patients.

Conclusions: The findings of this study hold promise for enhancing the treatment of schizophrenia in Pakistan and providing valuable insights for policymakers to consider the integration of this therapy into multiple healthcare facilities nationwide.