[The effect of psychoeducation on quality of life in depressive disorders - results of an evaluation study in Graz].

INTRODUCTION

This study aimed to evaluate the effect of psychoeducation (PE) on quality of life in depressive patients at the Department of Psychiatry, University of Medicine of Graz.

METHOD: We tested 49 depressive patients who participated in 9 PE group sessions at twice weekly intervals. Psychometric observer-rating and self-rating scales were conducted before and after PE completion.

RESULTS

Our evaluation study found significant improvement in mental health status, life satisfaction, psychopathology, specific knowledge about depression and compliance. Using multiple regression analyses, we identified variables predicting a more favourable outcome in the participating patients. The vast majority of our sample would highly recommend PE to other depressive patients, and found an increase in knowledge about depression to be supportive.

CONCLUSION

Our results with PE for depressive patients are encouraging, but the inclusion of appropriate control groups needs to be considered in forthcoming studies. Future research should also focus on comparison studies of PE in depressive patients with PE in schizophrenic patients, particularly as PE has proven to be an effective treatment in schizophrenia.