Improving the quality of life of people with schizophrenia through community based rehabilitation in Yogyakarta Province, Indonesia: A quasi experimental study.

OBJECTIVE

The persistent disability and low Quality of Life (QoL) are the impacts of schizophrenia. Community-Based Rehabilitation (CBR) is recommended for people with schizophrenia. The objective of this study is to analyze the effectiveness of CBR to improve the quality of life of people with schizophrenia.

METHODS

It was a quasi-experimental study, conducted in February-December 2017, in Yogyakarta, Indonesia. Subjectwere people with schizophrenia, 18-56 years old, with their caregiver. CBRintervention using psychoeducation module and social skill module during 12 weeks. It was conducted by local health workers, sub district social welfare workers, community health workers (called Kader in Indonesia) and supervised by a psychiatrist. The QoL was assessed using a validated measuring instrument at the baseline and at the week 16. Hypothesis test using Wilcoxon test

RESULTS

There were 100 people with schizophrenia involved in the study. They were divided into intervention group and control group. Every group consists of 50 subjects. Both groups had similar characteristics at the baseline. The intervention group received CBR, whereas the control group didn't. Thirty-four people (68%) of intervention group increased their QoL, whereas in the control group there were twenty-three people (46%) increased their QoL. The QoL decrease occurred in one subject (4%) from the control group. Other subjects had constant QoL. Improvement of QoL in the intervention group is higher than the control group (p < 0.05).

CONCLUSIONS

CBR is effective for improving the QoL of people with schizophrenia in the community. CBR is conducted by the health worker and sub-district social welfare worker.