Cullen BA, Rodriguez K, Eaton WW, Mojtabai R, Von Mach T, Ybarra ML. Clinical outcomes from the texting for relapse prevention (T4RP) in schizophrenia and schizoaffective disorder study. Psychiatry Research. 2020;292 (113346). doi.org/10.1016/j.psychres.2020.113346
Abstract:
This 6 month randomized control trial investigated whether a novel text-messaging program impacted targeted clinical outcomes in patients with schizophrenia and schizoaffective disorder (SAD). Forty patients were enrolled and completed baseline, 3-month and 6-month assessments. The intervention group received daily symptom check-in text messages, plus, a medication reminder or, inspirational quote text. The control group had treatment as usual. At 6 months the Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale mean positive score was significantly lower and injectable medication compliance was significantly higher in the intervention group. Recovery scores were significantly higher at 3 months. Results suggest that this program may benefit individuals with schizophrenia/SAD who use text messaging. Further investigation in a larger sample appears warranted.