Introduction: Group psychoeducation is effective in preventing relapse in bipolar disorder. It's indicated as an adjunctive intervention to pharmacotherapy for all outpatients. This retrospective, single center experience of group psychoeducation for bipolar disorder over a 6 years period, aims to assess severity of symptoms and comparative relapse episodes and intensity prior to and following psychoeducation as well as evaluating the decrease in hospitalizations and days of hospitalization.
Methods: Between 2014 and 2019 patients with a bipolar disorder were invited to attend a Colom model group psychoeducation (weekly 90 minutes sessions for 22 weeks). Depression and mania were assessed at baseline, following psychoeducation, 6 months and 12 months with the Hamilton Depression Rating Scale (HDRS) and Young Mania Rating Scale (YMRS). Patient specific hospitalization admissions data for 3 years prior to and 3 years following psychoeducation course were accessed. Subgroup analyses were performed according to patient sex and age with ANOVA methodology.
Results: Of the 95 eligible patients, 77 completed psychoeducation: 18 (19%) patients dropped out. Mean patient age was 45 years and 33 (43%) were male. Overall and subgroup specific YMRS and HDRS improved significantly throughout follow-up (p<0.01). Hospitalization analyses (45 patients; 58.4%) revealed a significant decrease in relapse and hospital stay days after psychoeducation, p<0.01.
Discussion: We provide evidence of applicability and efficacy of adjunctive psychoeducation in a real-world setting. Advantages observed were independent of patient sex and age. Analysis of the optimal number of sessions provided to patients according to efficacy and retention rates is required.
Conclusions: Despite inherent study design limitations, retrospective evaluation of a single-center psychoeducation program supports evidence of psychoeducation effectiveness in significantly reducing the severity of bipolar disorder and hospitalizations, despite a drop-out rate of 1 in 5.
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http://dx.doi.org/10.1708/4320.43059 | DOI Listing |
Front Psychiatry
December 2024
Department of Psychiatry, University of Health Sciences, Erzurum Faculty of Medicine, Erzurum, Türkiye.
Introduction: The study aimed to evaluate, both comparatively and longitudinally, the effects of receiving services from community mental health centers on the stigma levels of patients and relatives and the burden of care for patients with severe mental illness.
Methods: The study was planned to be conducted on patients with severe mental illness [schizophrenia spectrum disorders (SSDs) and bipolar disorder (BD)] and their relatives, followed by the community mental health center (CMHC group) and the outpatient clinic (outpatient group). It was planned to provide psychoeducation to relatives once a month for 2 h; meetings with the case manager at least once every 2 weeks; and psychosocial interventions (social inclusion, daily life activities studies, etc.
Psychooncology
January 2025
Department of Psychiatry, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, North Carolina, USA.
Objective: To evaluate the feasibility, acceptability, and preliminary efficacy of Families Addressing Cancer Together (FACT), a web-based, individually tailored, psychoeducational intervention for parents with cancer to improve illness-related communication with their minor children.
Methods: Parents with stage I-IV solid tumors who had children ages 3-17 were randomized to 6 weeks of FACT versus waitlist control. Feasibility was assessed by rates of recruitment and retention.
Front Psychiatry
December 2024
Department of General Internal Medicine and Psychosomatics, Heidelberg University, Heidelberg, Germany.
Background: A significant number of individuals diagnosed with SARS-CoV-2 continue to suffer from persistent symptoms, a condition commonly referred to as Post-COVID syndrome (PCS). The most common manifestations are fatigue, post-exertional malaise, respiratory problems and cognitive deficits due to the lack of a causal treatment, therapeutic options remain symptom oriented. The aim of this study was to develop a low-threshold group therapy concept for patients with PCS and to test its feasibility in face-to-face and online format.
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