Psychological and psychosocial interventions for treatment resistant schizophrenia: systematic review and network meta-analysis

This project aims to examine the comparative efficacy, acceptability, and tolerability of all psychological and psychosocial interventions in the treatment of schizophrenia patients with treatment resistance through network meta-analysis.

The project included all Randomized Controlled Trials (RCTs) comparing psychological and psychosocial interventions with a control group acting as a psychological intervention arm, such as Treatment as Usual (TAU), waitlist, inactive control, or another psychological intervention. The primary outcome is overall symptoms of schizophrenia as measured by rating scales such as the Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale (PANSS), the Brief Psychiatric Rating Scale (BPRS), or any other validated scales. The project ultimately produced a comprehensive rank of all treatments by conducting a network meta-analysis.

The protocol of the systematic review was registered in Prospero with ID number CRD42022358696.

The results of the project were published in the Lancet Psychiatry:

Salahuddin NH, Schütz A, Pitschel-Walz G, Mayer SF, Chaimani A, Siafis S, Priller J, Leucht S, Bighelli I. Psychological and psychosocial interventions for treatment-resistant schizophrenia: a systematic review and network meta-analysis. Lancet Psychiatry. 2024 Jul;11(7):545-553. doi: 10.1016/S2215-0366(24)00136-6. PMID: 38879276.

The project is primarily conducted by Nurul Husna Salahuddin.

Supervisor: Prof. Josef Priller & Prof. Stefan Leucht