3. Method
This has been fully described in the first publication
by this research group (Turkington et al., 2002)
and so relevant details only are given here.
3.1. Subjects
The study population for this randomised controlled
trial was drawn from six centres in the United
Kingdom. All patients between the ages of 18 and 65
years who met International Classification of Diseases
Version10 research criteria for schizophrenia (WorldHealth Organisation, 1992) were eligible for participation.
Lists were drawn from sources such as
inpatient and outpatient lists, depot and clozapine
clinics, community mental health team lists and case
registers. As a result, participants had varying lengths
of illnesses and numbers of previous relapses. Patients
were not recruited to the study if they had a coexisting
brain disease, a primary diagnosis of drug or
alcohol dependence or a learning disability severe
enough to interfere with rating. Any patient who was
deteriorating to such a degree as to be under
consideration for a period of inpatient care or
intensive home treatment was not included in the
study until stabilized