Expressed emotion of family members and psychiatric relapses of patients with a diagnosis of schizophrenia

Abstract

Objective: Assess the relationship between psychiatric relapses of patients with a diagnosis of schizophrenia, the levels of expressed emotion among their relatives and related factors. Method: Prospective study carried out at a mental health outpatient clinic and two Psychosocial Care Centers, with patients and relatives responding to the Family Questionnaire – Brazilian Portuguese Version, a form containing socio-demographic and clinical variables and a structured script to assess relapses. A logistic regression model was used for the analysis. Results: A total of 89 dyads participated in the study. Of the patients investigated, 31% presented relapses and, among the relatives, 68% presented elevated levels of expressed emotion. The relationship between expressed emotion and the relapses was not significant. The logistic regression analysis demonstrated that when there were a higher number of hospital admissions in the two years preceding the study, the chance of the patient relapsing in the 24-month period is 1.34. Conclusion: Expressed emotion was insufficient to predict relapses. Thus, a relapse should be understood as a multifactorial phenomenon. These results provide support for interventions and investigations on the multiple factors involved in the evolution of schizophrenia patients in follow-up at community-based health services.