EPV1491
Video game-facilitated group activity for quality of life and social function in chronic schizophrenia inpatients: A randomized controlled pilot trial
W.-Y. Chiang 1,*, Y.-J. Shih 2 3, Y.-J. Yang 1
1Department of General Psychiatry, 2Department of Nursing, Tsao-Tun Psychiatric Center, Nan-Tou County, 3Department of Health Administration, College of Medical and Health Science, Asia University, Taichung City, Taiwan
Introduction: Schizophrenia is characterized by chronicity and a pervasive impact on patients’ social functioning and quality of life. While pharmacological treatment can mitigate positive symptoms, negative symptoms, social dysfunction, and impaired quality of life require psychosocial interventions. Group-based interventions are among those known to improve social functioning and quality of life, but the benefits of video game-facilitated group activities for this population remain unclear.
Objectives: To evaluate the effectiveness of video game-facilitated group activity programs on quality of life and social function in chronic schizophrenic inpatients.
Methods: Schizophrenic inpatients aged 20–65 years at Tsao-Tun Psychiatric Center (TTPC) in Taiwan were recruited in this study. Participants were randomly assigned to either a 12-week intervention (three 50-minute video game group sessions weekly plus usual care) or to a control group (usual care only). Social function and quality of life was assessed using the Personal and Social Performance Scale (PSP) and the World Health Organization Quality of Life-Brief Version (WHOQOL-BREF), Taiwan version. Demographic data, physiological profiles, cognitive function, psychiatric conditions, and physical fitness were also collected for analysis. Analyses were performed with R, and statistical significance was set at the 5% level. This study was approved by the TTPC ethical review committee and registered (NCT07148609).
Results: This preliminary report summarizes our first wave of participants. Twenty patients were enrolled, with their basic demographic data shown in Table 1. At the endpoint, the intervention group exhibited significant improvement in personal and social relationships, as measured by the PSP (p=0.002), and in the language subscale of the Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA) (p=0.023). However, no significant difference was found in other outcome measurements between groups.
Image 1:
Conclusions: Our study showed that video game-facilitated group activity intervention significantly improved personal and social relationships in chronic schizophrenic inpatients and may enhance the language performance in cognitive assessment. These results highlight the clinical implications of embedding video game programs to promote social interactions in this population and warrant further studies.
Disclosure of Interest: None Declared