Health promotion in schizophrenia - research is of poor quality

People with schizophrenia have much poorer health than the rest of the population, with levels of mortality 59% higher than in normal people. A new study in the Journal of Advanced Nursing looks at the research done into health promotion among this group of people. The study found smoking cessation, weight management and exercise initiatives were all helpful but criticised the quality of research carried out into their effectiveness. Only two of the studies had contol groups of people who were not taking part in the initiatives for comparison purposes, most had small samples and none of the studies followed patients for more than six months. There is a link to the full text of the article in the title above

Bradshaw, Tim, Lovell, Karina, Harris, Neil - Healthy living interventions and schizophrenia : a systematic review Journal of Advanced Nursing 49 (6), 634-654