Evidence of the effectiveness of cognitive rehabilitation in psychosis and schizophrenia with the REHACOP programme

Introduction. Neuropsychological rehabilitation in schizophrenia is a recent development and few studies have been conducted to determine its effectiveness in samples of a Spanish population. Specific therapeutic programmes have recently been designed, like REHACOP, which is a programme of cognitive rehabilitation in psychosis. This study aims to test the effectiveness of REHACOP in samples of patients with schizophrenia in a Spanish population in different phases of the disease. Patients and methods. Seventy-six patients were recruited and randomly assigned to either an experimental REHACOP group or a control group. The REHACOP group took part in three structured sessions held weekly for a period of three months, while the control group attended occupational therapy sessions with the same frequency and intensity. Both groups received standard additional treatment according to their course and progress. All the patients were evaluated before and after the intervention on attention, language, learning and memory, processing speed and executive functions. Results. The REHACOP group offered significant improvements, with respect to the control group, in all the cognitive functions that were explored including attention, visuomotor integration, learning and memory or executive functions. Likewise, the REHACOP group showed a significant clinical and emotional improvement compared to the control group, as well as additional gains in their capacity for insight into the disease. Conclusions. The data from this study suggest that REHACOP can be an effective programme of intervention for bringing about improvements in the neuropsychological deterioration of patients with schizophrenia, regardless of the degree of impairment and the stage of progress of the disease.