Effects of an Interpersonal Communication Skills Training Program on Medication Adherence of Schizophrenic Patients

September 2, 2025 updated by: Sakda Khumkom, Suranaree University of Technology

This quasi-experimental two-group pretest-posttest study examined the effects of an interpersonal communication skills training program on medication adherence in patients with schizophrenia, measured at pre-intervention, post-intervention, and one-month follow-up.

Research Hypotheses

  1. The experimental group receiving the interpersonal communication skills training program will show higher mean treatment adherence scores post-intervention and at one-month follow-up compared to baseline.
  2. The experimental group will show higher mean treatment adherence scores post-intervention and at one-month follow-up than the control group receiving routine nursing care.

Study Overview

Status

Completed

Conditions

Intervention / Treatment

Detailed Description

Intervention : Interpersonal Communication Skills Training Program This program was developed based on DeVito's communication theory and integrated with the positive reinforcement-based interpersonal communication training developed by Thiengwiriyakul et al.(11) The program comprises six sessions: 1) Positive Communication 2) Equal Communication 3) Empathic Communication 4) Supportive Communication 5) Open Communication and 6) Relationship-Building Communication. The intervention was conducted three times per week, 60 minutes per session, over a two-week period.

Usual Care :

Usual care is defined as the provision of standard psychiatric nursing interventions consistent with usual clinical practice.

Study Type

Interventional

Enrollment (Actual)

40

Phase

  • Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

This section provides the contact details for those conducting the study, and information on where this study is being conducted.

Study Locations

  • Thailand
    • Changwat Ubon Ratchathani
      • Nai Muang, Changwat Ubon Ratchathani, Thailand, 34000
        • Prasrimahabhodi Psychiatric Hospital, ,Thailand

Participation Criteria

Researchers look for people who fit a certain description, called eligibility criteria. Some examples of these criteria are a person's general health condition or prior treatments.

Eligibility Criteria

Ages Eligible for Study

  • Adult

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

No

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  1. Male patients aged 20-59 with an ICD-10 schizophrenia diagnosis(F20.0-F20.9).
  2. History of psychiatric readmission due to medication non-adherence
  3. Mild psychiatric symptoms(Thai BPRS score ≤ 36).
  4. Poor interpersonal communication skills(score ≤ 1.50 on Thiengviriya et al.'s assessment tool
  5. Low to moderate medication adherence(score ≤ 42 on Uthaiphan & Daengdomyut's scale
  6. Able to read, write, speak, and without hearing/visual impairments.
  7. Had a primary caregiver post-discharge.
  8. Provided informed consent voluntarily.

Exclusion Criteria:

Patients with other psychiatric comorbidities(e.g., depression, bipolar disorder, anxiety, or substance-induced psychosis)

Study Plan

This section provides details of the study plan, including how the study is designed and what the study is measuring.

How is the study designed?

Design Details

  • Primary Purpose: Treatment
  • Allocation: Randomized
  • Interventional Model: Parallel Assignment
  • Masking: None (Open Label)

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm
Intervention / Treatment
Experimental: Experiment group
The group of patients who received Interpersonal Communication Skills Training Program
Behavioral: Interpersonal Communication Skills Training Program
This program was developed based on DeVito's communication theory and integrated with the positive reinforcement-based interpersonal communication training developed by Thiengwiriyakul et al.(11) This program was evaluated by a panel of three experts-a psychiatrist, a psychiatric nurse, and a psychiatric nursing academic-who assessed content relevance, appropriateness, and language clarity. After revisions based on their feedback, the program achieved a Content Validity Index (CVI) of 0.93, exceeding the acceptable threshold.
Other: Control group
The group of patients who received routine psychiatric nursing care
Behavioral: Usual care
Received routine psychiatric nursing care

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Medication Adherence Behavior
Time Frame: Before the intervention, Immediately after the intervention , 1 month follow-up
Treatment adherence refers to the extent to which patients with schizophrenia follow their prescribed medication regimen, assessed using the 16-item Treatment Adherence Behavior Assessment Scale (Uthaipan & Daengdomyut, 2013) It has been validated for content with a content validity index (CVI) of 0.88 and demonstrates good reliability with a Cronbach's alpha of 0.85. It consists of 16 items rated on a 4-point Likert scale (Always, Often, Occasionally, Never), divided into two parts: 1) Items 1-8: behaviors related to medication adherence. 2) Items 9-16: abilities to recognize and manage side effects. Seven items are negatively worded (Items 1, 2, 3, 7, 8, 12, 15), and nine items are positively worded (Items 4, 5, 6, 9, 10, 11, 13, 14, 16). The scoring is interpreted as follows: 1) ≤ 21 points: Low adherence 2) 21-42 points: Moderate adherence 3) ≥ 43 points: High adherence
Before the intervention, Immediately after the intervention , 1 month follow-up

Collaborators and Investigators

This is where you will find people and organizations involved with this study.

Sponsor

Suranaree University of Technology

Investigators

  • Study Chair: Arunee Roongrusamee, Dip.N.S., Prasrimahabhodi Psychiatric Hospital, Ubon Ratchathani, 34000, Thailand
  • Principal Investigator: Palida Phalasak, M.N.S, Prasrimahabhodi Psychiatric Hospital, Ubon Ratchathani, 34000, Thailand
  • Principal Investigator: Aungkhana Chaiyarak, Dip.N.S., Prasrimahabhodi Psychiatric Hospital, Ubon Ratchathani, 34000, Thailand
  • Principal Investigator: Sakda Khumkom, Ph.D., Institute of Nursing, Suranaree University of Technology, Nakhon Ratchasima, 30000, Thailand
  • Principal Investigator: Thanakamon Leesri, Ph.D., Institute of Nursing, Suranaree University of Technology, Nakhon Ratchasima, 30000, Thailand

Publications and helpful links

The person responsible for entering information about the study voluntarily provides these publications. These may be about anything related to the study.

General Publications

Helpful Links

Study record dates

These dates track the progress of study record and summary results submissions to ClinicalTrials.gov. Study records and reported results are reviewed by the National Library of Medicine (NLM) to make sure they meet specific quality control standards before being posted on the public website.

Study Major Dates

Study Start (Actual)

June 1, 2024

Primary Completion (Actual)

September 30, 2024

Study Completion (Actual)

September 30, 2024

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

August 24, 2025

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

September 2, 2025

First Posted (Estimated)

September 10, 2025

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Estimated)

September 10, 2025

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

September 2, 2025

Last Verified

September 1, 2025

More Information

Terms related to this study

Keywords

Additional Relevant MeSH Terms

Other Study ID Numbers

  • NursingSUT

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?

YES

IPD Plan Description

IPD Sharing Statement:

Individual participant data (IPD) will be made available following publication of the research article and will remain accessible for 10 years thereafter.

IPD Sharing Time Frame

10 years thereafter.

IPD Sharing Access Criteria

Access instructions will be provided at that time

IPD Sharing Supporting Information Type

  • STUDY_PROTOCOL

Drug and device information, study documents

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product

No

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product

No

This information was retrieved directly from the website clinicaltrials.gov without any changes. If you have any requests to change, remove or update your study details, please contact register@clinicaltrials.gov. As soon as a change is implemented on clinicaltrials.gov, this will be updated automatically on our website as well.

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