Extract

Background and study aims People who have received a diagnosis of schizophrenia frequently have problems with thinking skills such as memory and concentration. These difficulties can make it difficult to take part in everyday activities such as socialising or working, which are important for a good quality of life. Cognitive remediation (CR) is a psychological therapy which can help people improve their thinking skills and this seems often to have a positive effect on activities in daily life. CR is beginning to be offered by health services, and researchers are trying to understand how it works. A state-of-the-art new computerised CR programme called CIRCuiTS has been developed. It works by teaching people to use strategies and to understand and manage their thinking skills better, first using computerised games and puzzles, but then in daily life activities such as in work, socialising or using public transport. The aim of this study is to test whether CIRCuiTS is user-friendly enough to allow therapists to deliver therapy sessions easily and for people with a schizophrenia diagnosis to carry out sessions independently at home and to investigate whether CIRCuiTS is effective in helping people to improve their thinking skills and performance in daily life. Who can participate? Adults aged 18-65 years who have a received a diagnosis of schizophrenia. What does the study involve? Participants are randomly allocated to one of two groups. One group receives their normal mental health treatment. The other group received CIRCuiTS at least three times a week for up to 12 weeks, in addition to their normal mental health treatment. The CIRCuiTS sessions are carried out with the support of a psychological therapist, but participants are also encouraged to carry out additional sessions alone at home. CIRCuiTs involves learning to use strategies to help improve performance on computerised thinking skills tasks, and then afterwards, to use the same strategies in daily life. Before and after the therapy (or after three months for those who receive only their normal mental health treatment), and then again three months later, participants are asked to complete a number of thinking skills puzzles and questionnaires so that we can test if CIRCuiTS is more helpful than participants’ usual treatment. What are the possible benefits and risks of participating? Participants may benefit from improvement in their symptoms. There are no notable risks with participating, however participants may find the programme stressful. Where is the study run from? King’s College London (UK) When is the study starting and how long is it expected to run for? May 2010 to November 2012. Who is funding the study? NIHR (UK) Who is the main contact? Professor Til Wykes [email protected]

Inclusion criteria

• Topic: Mental Health Research Network; Subtopic: Schizophrenia; Disease: Schizophrenia

Links

• isrctn
• ictrp