How effective is group psycho-education at preventing relapse?

1) One group of studies looked at how effective add-on group psycho-education is at preventing any type of relapse.

When comparing people participating in add-on group psychoeducation versus people having usual care, these studies show that:

  • ANY TYPE OF RELAPSE

    MEDICATION + GROUP PSYCHO-EDUCATION
    41 in 100
    people participating in add-on group psycho-education will NOT RELAPSE within 6 months up to 2 years
    59 in 100
    people will RELAPSE
    MEDICATION + USUAL CARE
    16 in 100
    people having usual care will NOT RELAPSE within 6 months up to 2 years
    84 in 100
    people will RELAPSE

2) Another group of studies looked at how effective add-on group psycho-education is at preventing relapse into depression.

When comparing people participating in add-on group psycho-education versus people having usual care, these studies show that:

  • RELAPSE INTO DEPRESSION

    MEDICATION + GROUP PSYCHO-EDUCATION
    71 in 100
    people participating in add-on group psycho-education will NOT RELAPSE into depression within 6 months up to 2 years
    29 in 100
    people will RELAPSE into depression
    MEDICATION + USUAL CARE
    41 in 100
    people having usual care will NOT RELAPSE into depression within 6 months up to 2 years
    59 in 100
    people will RELAPSE into depression

3) Another group of studies looked at how effective add-on group psycho-education is at preventing relapse into hypomania.

When comparing people participating in add-on group psychoeducation versus people having usual care, these studies show that:

  • ANY TYPE OF HYPOMANIA

    MEDICATION + GROUP PSYCHO-EDUCATION
    57 in 100
    people participating in add-on group psycho-education will NOT RELAPSE into hypomania within 6 months up to 2 years
    43 in 100
    people participating in add-on group psycho-education will RELAPSE into hypomania within 6 months up to 2 years
    MEDICATION + USUAL CARE
    38 in 100
    people having usual care will NOT RELAPSE into hypomania within 6 months up to 2 years
    62 in 100
    people will RELAPSE into hypomania
Studies show that taking medication AND participating in group psycho-education is better than medication and usual care at preventing all types of relapse. This also appears to be good at preventing both depression and hypomania.

Meta-analyses based on RCT studies of relapse in people with bipolar I and II disorders with follow-ups of at least 3 months.