Dance/Movement Therapy for Improving Bone Mineral Density in Long-term Patients With Schizophrenia: a Randomized Controlled Trial

Schizophrenia (SZ) is a chronic, severe psychiatric disorder that affects approximately 1% of the population. The psychiatric symptoms and high rate of relapse of SZ can significantly impair cognitive and social functioning, including problem-solving skills, interpersonal relationships, and work performance. Moreover, individuals with SZ usually have higher disability and premature mortality rates compared to the general population. Falls are a common concern in hospital settings, with studies reporting a fall rate between three and five falls per 1000 bed days. Osteoporosis and its precursors, e.g. osteopenia and low bone mineral density (BMD), have been reported in chronic patients with SZ and were strong predictors for subsequent falls and fractures in psychiatric hospitals.

Dance/movement therapy (DMT), as one of the creative arts therapies, is an emerging therapy for the rehabilitation of patients with SZ in recent years. DMT therapy uses dance activities and body movements to enhance well-being, mood, and quality of life. DMT therapy uses movement, dance, and interpersonal communication to explore a person's emotional, cognitive, social, and physical integration, enabling patients to enhance self-expression, accept and reconnect with their bodies, and strengthen their fitness. The patients share their emotions, concerns, and coping strategies with others through dance/movement. It can be applied to individuals of all ages, races, and genders and can be efficacious in individuals who experience losses in social, physical, and psychological functions. DMT has also been used to improve the cognition and social function of patients with mental diseases in psychiatric hospitals. In particular, a few studies have reported a critical role of DMT intervention in negative symptoms in chronic patients with SZ. However, there is still a lack of evidence that whether DMT is an effective therapy to increase the mean bone mineral density and reduce the risk of fractures due to falls in long-term hospitalized patients with SZ.

In the present study, the investigators hypothesized that DMT intervention was effective to increase BMD and balance ability and decrease the metabolic parameters in long-term hospitalized male veterans with SZ as compared to the control group. They also examined whether DMT intervention can significantly change BMI, the levels of lipid profile, and serum calcium in patients.