Efficacy of group play therapy on cognitive function and negative symptoms in hospitalized female patients with schizophrenia

Abstract

BackgroundSchizophrenia patients are often accompanied by negative symptoms and severe cognitive impairment， but effective interventions intended to alleviate such condition are currently limited. Existing researches on group play therapy for schizophrenia is still in its initial stages， and such therapy has the potential to contribute to symptoms improvement.ObjectiveTo explore the efficacy of group play therapy on improving cognitive function and negative symptoms in hospitalized female patients with schizophrenia， so as to provide references for clinical intervention in such group.MethodsThis study involved 40 female patients with schizophrenia who received inpatient treatment at the Third People's Hospital of Fuyang from April 2022 to May 2023 as well as met the diagnostic criteria of the International Classification of Diseases， tenth edition （ICD-10）. They were divided into study group （n=20） and control group （n=20） according to the random number table method. Both groups received routine treatment， and the study group received 10 sessions of group play therapy for 5 weeks on the basis. At baseline， Scale for Assessment of Positive Symptoms （SAPS）， Scale for Assessment of Negative Symptoms （SANS）， Self-rating Depression Scale （SDS）， Nurses' Observation Scale for Inpatient Evaluation （NOSIE）， and Repeatable Battery for the Assessment of Neuropsychological Status （RBANS） were used for assessment. Post-therapy evaluation was conducted by using SAPS， SANS and RBANS. Patients' baseline SAPS scores， SANS scores， RBANS total scores， and various factor scores of RBANS were used as covariates， and covariance analysis was adopted to compare the scores of each scale between the two groups after treatment.ResultsA total of 39 patients went through the whole study. Results of covariance analysis showed that the SANS score of study group was lower than that of control group， while several scores of RBANS （including total score， immediate memory factor score， speech function factor score and attention factor score） were all higher than those in control group. Significant difference was observed between two groups in scores of both scales above （F=13.408， 10.331， 4.932， 9.967， 10.010， P<0.05 or 0.01）.ConclusionGroup play therapy may help improve negative symptoms and cognitive function in hospitalized female patients with schizophrenia. ［Funded by Research project of Fuyang Municipal Health Commission （number， FY2021-147）］

Keywords

• schizophrenia
• group play therapy
• cognitive function
• negative symptoms