Study designs of evaluations included in the review
Studies where cognitive remediation was compared with a placebo, another intervention, or standard treatment, were eligible for inclusion. Parallel and crossover designs were eligible for inclusion.
Specific interventions included in the review
Studies of cognitive remediation that involved practising or learning cognitive skills in individual or group formats, where the intervention was not limited to one cognitive task, and included training methods that were different from the tests used to measure the outcome, were eligible for inclusion. In addition, cognitive remediation had to be compared with a placebo, another intervention, or standard treatment. Studies evaluating the impact of operant behavioural techniques were excluded, except when behavioural reinforcement was combined with cognitive remediation.
The interventions evaluated in the included studies were of strategy or rehearsal training. Comparisons were made with standard care, performing tasks, work therapy, games, videos, handicrafts, support group, leisure group, or occupational therapy. The number of sessions ranged from 1 to 78.
Participants included in the review
Studies of people with schizophrenia were eligible for inclusion.
Outcomes assessed in the review
No specific inclusion criteria for the outcomes were reported. The outcome reported in the review was task performance.
How were decisions on the relevance of primary studies made?
The authors did not state how the papers were selected for the review, or how many reviewers performed the selection.