The effect of home visits on self-efficacy in patients with schizophrenia: A clinical trial

Introduction: One of the major problems of chronic patients such as schizophrenic patients with is difficulty in being able to take care of them and impose psychological burden on the family. This study aimed to determine the effect of home visits on self-efficacy in patients with schizophrenia. Materials and Methods: In this clinical trial in 2017-2018, 60 patients with schizophrenia who admitted in Ibn-e-Sina hospital of Mashhad-Iran were randomly divided into experimental and control groups. The experimental group received the home visit program based on a community-based mental health group management method for two months (four to six 45-60 minute sessions), while the control group received routine care. The self-efficacy of both groups was measured by a general self-efficacy questionnaire before the intervention and at the end of the second month. Data were analyzed by SPSS software version 16 and descriptive statistics and independent t-test, Mann-Whitney, paired t-test, Wilcoxon, and Chi-square. Results: The results showed that the mean score of self-efficacy in the two groups before the intervention was not statistically significant (P= 0.52) but after the intervention, self-efficacy score in the experimental group was significantly higher than the control group (P 0.001). The results of Wilcoxon test also showed that the mean score of self-efficacy in experimental group was higher significantly in the post-intervention phase (P 0.001) Conclusion: The results of this study showed the positive effect of home visiting program on improving self-efficacy in schizophrenic patients. Therefore, it is recommended to use this program in empowering these patients.