Patterson Thomas L, Bucardo Jesus, McKibbin Christine L, Mausbach Brent T, Moore David, Barrio Concepcion, Goldman Sherrill R, Jeste Dilip V
Department of Psychiatry, University of California San Diego, USA.
Schizophr Bull. 2005 Oct;31(4):922-30. doi: 10.1093/schbul/sbi036. Epub 2005 Jul 21.
Latinos constitute the largest minority in the United States, and there is an increasing number of Latino patients with schizophrenia and other psychoses living into old age. However, few specific behavioral interventions have been developed aimed at improving the functioning of this group. We evaluated a psychosocial intervention designed to improve the everyday living skills of middle-aged and older outpatients with very chronic psychotic disorders. Three psychiatric clinics, specializing in care of Latinos, were randomly assigned to (1) a 24-session intervention entitled Programa de Entrenamiento para el Desarrollo de Aptitudes para Latinos (PEDAL) group therapy (n = 21) targeting areas identified in our previous work as being problematic for this population (e.g., using public transportation) or (2) a time-equivalent friendly support group (SG; n = 8). Compared to the patients randomized to SG, PEDAL-treated patients' performance on everyday living skills improved significantly postintervention and was still significantly better at a 6-month maintenance follow-up period and at a 12-month no-treatment follow-up period. There was no significant change in psychopathology. Limitations of this pilot study are discussed. Results suggest that participation in this skills training program, designed specifically for older Latino patients with long-standing psychotic disorders, has the potential to significantly increase the patients' independence and improve functional skills.
拉丁裔是美国最大的少数族裔，患精神分裂症及其他精神病的拉丁裔患者步入老年的人数也在增加。然而，针对改善该群体功能的具体行为干预措施却很少。我们评估了一项心理社会干预措施，旨在提高患有非常慢性精神障碍的中老年门诊患者的日常生活技能。三家专门诊治拉丁裔患者的精神病诊所被随机分为两组：（1）接受一个名为“拉丁裔能力发展训练项目（PEDAL）”的为期24节的团体治疗（n = 21），该治疗针对我们之前研究中确定的对该人群存在问题的领域（例如，乘坐公共交通工具）；（2）一个时长相等的友好支持小组（SG；n = 8）。与随机分配到SG组的患者相比，接受PEDAL治疗的患者在日常生活技能方面的表现干预后有显著改善，在6个月的维持随访期和12个月的无治疗随访期仍显著更好。精神病理学方面没有显著变化。本文讨论了这项初步研究的局限性。结果表明，参与这项专门为患有长期精神障碍的老年拉丁裔患者设计的技能培训项目，有可能显著提高患者的独立性并改善功能技能。
