"Hitting" voices of schizophrenia patients may lastingly reduce persistent auditory hallucinations and their burden: 18-month outcome of a randomized controlled trial.

ABSTRACT

OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to investigate the outcome of an 18-month randomized controlled trial (RCT) on subjective burden and psychopathology of patients suffering from schizophrenia. METHOD: An RCT was used to compare hallucination-focused integrative treatment (HIT) and routine treatment (RT) in schizophrenia patients who persistently hear voices. We performed an intent-to-treat analysis on each of the 63 patients who were assessed at baseline, 9, and 18 months. On each of the 3 occasions, the differential effects of the treatment conditions were tested repeatedly. Sex, age, education, and illness (hallucination) duration were used as covariates. RESULTS: Patients in the experimental group retained improvements over time. Improvements in hallucinations, distress, and negative content of voices remained significant at the 5% level. CONCLUSION: HIT seems to be an effective treatment strategy with long-lasting effects for treatment-refractory voice-hearing patients.