PERSONALISED COGNITIVE REMEDIATION THERAPY (pCRT)

• Research type

  Research Study

• Full title

  TESTING THE FEASIBILITY AND ACCEPTABILITY OF A NEW PERSONALISED FORM OF COGNITIVE REMEDIATION THERAPY (pCRT) FOR PEOPLE WITH PSYCHOSIS

• IRAS ID

  231245

• Contact name

  Benedetta Seccomandi

• Sponsor organisation

  King's College London

• Duration of Study in the UK

  1 years, 11 months, 31 days

• Research summary

  Cognitive deficits in people with psychosis have been shown to have negative predicted value for functional goals such as ability to work and perform daily tasks. In the attempt to try to improve cognitive functions in schizophrenia, Cognitive Remediation Therapy (CRT) has been developed with a general immediate focus on improving impaired cognitive domains but ultimately aimed at improving social and functional outcomes. There is evidence that CRT is effective in improving cognition and functioning but there is still a limited understanding of mechanism responsible for different treatment responses. This study attempts to fill this gap by developing and testing a new form of CRT, which will personalise therapy elements according to initial participants’ characteristics. The study primary hypothesis is that personalised CRT, tailored on specific moderators such as cognitive profile, and mediators including number of tasks and of sessions, will maximise treatment benefit. This study will aim to recruit 15 participants form Community Mental Health terms in the South London and Maudsley NHS trust. Criteria for selecting the participants will be (i) a range of 18-65 years, (ii) a diagnosis of schizophrenia or schizoaffective disorder, (iii) at least one year contact with mental health services, (iv) a deficit in at least one cognitive domain of one standard deviation below the population mean. This study will be explained in detail to participants by meeting. All participant will be asked to sign a written informed consent. Neurocognitive assessments (such as attention and memory), measurement of symptoms and functioning will be conducted before and after the therapy. The therapy will consist of task practice using computerised Cognitive Remediation two to three times per week approximately one hour. Participants will be offered up to forty sessions over a 12-weeks period with the possibility of carrying out independent and in vivo exposure sessions. A number of authors (e.g. Demily and Franck, 2008; Levaux et al., 2009) have highlighted the need to develop more individualized cognitive remediation treatments to take into account the heterogeneity in cognitive difficulties characterising people with schizophrenia. This work will contribute knowledge that will help to improve treatment tailoring approaches and to evaluate this new method feasibility and acceptability.

• REC name

  London - Dulwich Research Ethics Committee

• REC reference

  17/LO/1964

• Date of REC Opinion

  17 Jan 2018

• REC opinion

  Further Information Favourable Opinion