Effectiveness of Cognitive Rehabilitation for Improving Attention in Patients with Schizophrenia

Abstract

Many patients with chronic schizophrenia who are treated in traditional occupational therapy programs demonstrate lower level deficits involving cognition and, more specifically, attention. This study examines the applicability of the cognitive rehabilitation treatment modality to patients with schizophrenia as compared with the traditional one-to-one task-oriented approach. Results indicated no significant difference between the two treatment methods. Overall, the subjects from both groups did show improvement in scores on the shell sort task of the Bay Area Functional Performance Evaluation (BaFPE). Scores for self-confidence, motivation, and efficiency improved for the subjects in both groups in at least four of the five task scores of the BaFPE. Significant improvements also were noted in five psychological tests of attention and memory for both groups. This study supported the importance of hierarchically arranged crafts and cognitive rehabilitation in an environment with reduced sensory input. Treatments that were structured, concrete, and visual were most effective.