[Psychoeducation in schizophrenia].

Background: The treatment of schizophrenia includes the use of psychotropic drugs, psychotherapy, and psychosocial interventions that include psychoeducation. This strategy has been defined as the delivery of information about the disorder and its treatment in a systematic and structured way.

Objective: To review the literature on the efficacy of psychoeducation in schizophrenia.

Methods: A search in PubMed, SciELO, EMBASE and PsycINFO was made with the terms "psychoeducation", "schizophrenia" and "psychosocial intervention". Articles in Spanish and English language were reviewed.

Results: Psychoeducation can be applied to patients, family or both, and individually or in groups. The number of sessions can vary. There have been many studies that seek to determine the efficacy of psychoeducation in the clinical course, family dynamics and stigma, with results that favor its implementation, but so far it has not been possible to determine exactly how best to apply psychoeducation, mainly because of the great variability of designs.

Conclusions: The studies on psychoeducation have shown efficacy. However, this might be an overestimation, as there is a high risk of bias. Consequently, there is not enough evidence. At least for now, it is reasonable to complement pharmacotherapy with psycoeducation.