eprintid: 10067519 rev_number: 33 eprint_status: archive userid: 608 dir: disk0/10/06/75/19 datestamp: 2019-02-12 13:54:00 lastmod: 2021-10-25 00:02:25 status_changed: 2019-07-05 08:20:14 type: article metadata_visibility: show creators_name: Priebe, S creators_name: Chevalier, A creators_name: Hamborg, T creators_name: Golden, E creators_name: King, M creators_name: Pistrang, N title: Effectiveness of a volunteer befriending programme for patients with schizophrenia – a randomised controlled trial ispublished: inpress divisions: UCL divisions: B02 divisions: C07 divisions: D05 divisions: F66 divisions: D79 keywords: social isolation, volunteering, psychosis, social contacts note: Copyright and usage © The Royal College of Psychiatrists 2019. This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution licence (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/ 4.0/), which permits unrestricted re-use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. abstract: Background Befriending by volunteers has the potential to reduce the frequent social isolation of patients with schizophrenia and thus improve health outcomes. However, trial-based evidence for its effectiveness is limited. Aims To conduct a randomised controlled trial of befriending for patients with schizophrenia or related disorders. Method Patients were randomised to a befriending programme for 1 year or to receive information about social activities only (trial registration: ISRCTN14021839). Outcomes were assessed masked to allocation at the end of the programme; at 12 months and at a 6-month follow-up. The primary outcome was daily time spent in activities (using the Time Use Survey (TUS)) with intention-to-treat analysis. Results A total of 124 patients were randomised (63 intervention, 61 active control) and 92 (74%) were followed up at 1 year. In the intervention group, 49 (78%) met a volunteer at least once and 31 (49%) had more than 12 meetings. At 1 year, mean TUS scores were more than three times higher in both groups with no significant difference between them (adjusted difference 8.9, 95% CI −40.7 to 58.5, P = 0.72). There were no significant differences in quality of life, symptoms or self-esteem. However, patients in the intervention group had significantly more social contacts than those in the control group at the end of the 12-month period. This difference held true at the follow-up 6 months later. Conclusions Although no difference was found on the primary outcome, the findings suggest that befriending may have a lasting effect on increasing social contacts. It may be used more widely to reduce the social isolation of patients with schizophrenia. Declaration of interest None. date: 2019-03 date_type: published publisher: Royal College of Psychiatrists official_url: https://doi.org/10.1192/bjp.2019.42 oa_status: green full_text_type: pub language: eng primo: open primo_central: open_green verified: verified_manual elements_id: 1627496 doi: 10.1192/bjp.2019.42 lyricists_name: King, Michael lyricists_name: Pistrang, Nancy lyricists_id: MBKIN92 lyricists_id: NEPIS45 actors_name: Novi, Maya actors_id: MNOVI52 actors_role: owner full_text_status: public publication: British Journal of Psychiatry issn: 0007-1250 citation: Priebe, S; Chevalier, A; Hamborg, T; Golden, E; King, M; Pistrang, N; (2019) Effectiveness of a volunteer befriending programme for patients with schizophrenia – a randomised controlled trial. British Journal of Psychiatry 10.1192/bjp.2019.42 <https://doi.org/10.1192/bjp.2019.42>. (In press). Green open access document_url: https://discovery-pp.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/10067519/1/King_controlled_trial.pdf