Schizophenia Disorder

This study is recruiting participants who are experiencing a first episode of psychosis and who have certain genetic factors that may make them respond better to certain medications that are used to treat people with psychosis.

This is a single site trial in 30 patients with schizophrenia, schizoaffective, or bipolar I/II/NOS disorder in which all participants will receive eight weeks of olanzapine and samidorphan (Olz/Sam) plus four weeks of aerobic exercise.

This longitudinal, observational study aims to assess whether the characteristics of a novel blood peripheral biomarker can serve as indicators for depression and schizophrenia in patients at the Royal Columbian Hospital Psychiatric Clinics. The study will evaluate whether changes in these biomarker characteristics can help distinguish between depressed patients who do or do not respond to treatment and between individuals experiencing a single psychotic episode and those at risk of progressing to schizophrenia. To achieve this, blood samples and standardized mental health assessments will be collected across three study visits from up to 500 participants, grouped into two study arms based on their diagnosis: Depression (DEP) or Psychosis/Schizophrenia (PSY).

The prevalence of smoking among people with schizophrenia (SCZ) is substantially higher at 54% to 90% (McClave et al., 2010). About half of all deaths amongst people with scz are attributed to smoking-related diseases and cancer involving the lung, the cardiovascular system, and the liver (Kely et al., 2011; WHO, 2019). Acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT) is effective for treating psychotic symptoms and addictive behaviours. In a local randomised controlled trial comparing individual ACT to social support for smoking cessation in adult scz smokers, the self-reported quit rates in ACT group were higher than in the social support group (6 months: 12.3% vs. 7.7%, p=0.56 ; 12 months: 10.8% vs. 7.7%, p=0.76; Mak, Loke, and Leung, 2021). In this study, functional neuroimaging (fMRI) will be combined with symptoms assessment in order to ascertain whether group-based ACT is effective in modifying the brain's responses in general and specifically to tobacco craving cues and resting-state functional connectivity in three time points (pre-, post-intervention, and 6-month follow-up) among people with schizophrenia.

This randomized clinical trial will test a new technology-supported blended intervention, mobile Social Interaction Therapy by Exposure (mSITE), that targets social engagement in consumers with serious mental illness.

This observational study aims to evaluate exercise capacity, pulmonary function, respiratory muscle strength, and quality of life in individuals diagnosed with schizophrenia and bipolar disorder. These psychiatric conditions are associated with sedentary lifestyles, metabolic side effects of psychotropic medications, and increased comorbidity risks, all of which may negatively impact physical fitness and respiratory health. By assessing cardiorespiratory endurance, pulmonary parameters (FVC, FEV₁), and respiratory muscle strength in this population, the study seeks to identify physiological limitations and contribute to the development of more effective rehabilitation strategies. The findings may support multidisciplinary approaches to improving physical health and overall quality of life in individuals with severe mental illness.

The project proposes to develop a digital product based on cognitive behavioral therapy for the assisted treatment of depression. The digital cognitive behavioral therapy in this study is conducted based on a self-developed mobile applet. The therapy is developed by psychotherapists, which is conducted for a total of 8 weeks, with weekly sessions including AI-guided course work and homework. This study aims to evaluate the therapeutic effects of CBT-based digital products for depression in patients through a real-world study, and to explore its genetic and neuroimaging mechanisms.

This study aims to develop and evaluate a Virtual Reality (VR) Auditory Hallucination Program to enhance psychiatric nurses' comprehensive care competence in managing auditory hallucinations among patients with schizophrenia. Given that 60-80% of patients on the schizophrenia spectrum experience auditory hallucinations, and many continue to do so despite medication, improving nurses' professional skills in this area is critical. The research is conducted in two phases across four psychiatric institutions. Phase one involves the development and validation of the VR program and an OSCE (Objective Structured Clinical Examination), piloted with five participants and evaluated by psychiatric nursing experts. Phase two is a formal interventional study with 200 psychiatric nurses, using block randomization and three data collection time points. Assessment tools include five instruments measuring nurses' confidence, knowledge, attitude, empathy, immersion, and care performance related to auditory hallucinations. The study expects to strengthen nurses' ability to assess and manage auditory hallucinations effectively, and proposes the VR program as a potential tool for nursing in-service education.

CRHESO aims at overcoming the considerable burden of mental disorders, which affects both psychosocial well-being and societal welfare, through a multidisciplinary and integrated approach to explore and remediate dimensions affecting social outcome.

An 8-week, rater-blinded, real-world observational study to investigate the benefits of pharmacogenetics-based pharmacotherapy in patients suffering from schizophrenia.