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

Abstract

Schizophrenia is a severe global mental health problem. Previous studies have suggested different psychological interventions to reduce the severity of schizophrenia symptoms in developing countries. In Pakistan, there has been a lack of research to address this issue and introduce measures to overcome this gap. This study aimed to develop a unique intervention to improve the severity of symptoms in individuals with schizophrenia in Pakistan.

Methods: This study was a pre-post design, parallel, two-arm, double-blinded, feasibility, randomized controlled trial. Sixty participants (experimental group, n = 30, and control group, n = 30) were recruited from the departments of psychiatry at various hospitals across Rawalpindi and Islamabad from August to November 2022. Four instruments (the Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale, the Beck Cognitive Insight Scale, the World Health Organization Disability Assessment Schedule, and the World Health Organization Quality of Life Scale) were used to assess symptom severity, cognitive insight, disability, and quality of life in individuals with schizophrenia. A two-way factorial ANOVA was used to examine the efficacy of MCT in reducing symptom severity, cognitive insight, disability, and quality of life.

Results: The findings of this study showed that, in comparison to treatment as usual, MCT was successful in improving symptom severity and cognitive insight in patients with schizophrenia. On the other hand, results also showed that MCT was not significantly effective in enhancing quality of life and disability in schizophrenia patients.

Conclusions: This study will help improve schizophrenia treatment in Pakistan and create insight for policymakers so they can incorporate this therapy in various hospitals across the country.