Stable outpatients under regular treatment received prior psychiatric diagnosis after a three-step procedure consisting of the following: (a) careful clinical observation with at least three evaluations; (b) a family interview; and (c) a review of their medical records performed by a trained psychiatrist. All met the following inclusion criteria: Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, DSM-5; (14 ) diagnosis of schizophrenia; aged between 18 and 65 years; under stable drug treatment adjusted to their clinical state for at least 3 months; and not involved in any other physical activity programs during the intervention. Patients were recruited from the services where they were being clinically followed (HCPA or CAPES) and were allocated to the intervention group (individuals from HCPA underwent IF, and individuals from CAPES underwent IA) (Figure 1 ).
The exclusion criteria were as follows: alcohol or other drug abuse in the previous month; major systemic or neurological diseases; physical disability contraindicating physical activity or any physical condition that makes physical activity unsafe; suicide risk confirmed by direct contact with the patient and family; pregnancy or women of reproductive age that did not use a contraception method; and not agreeing to participate in the study after full explanation of the program.
Controls were recruited through specific social networks (Figure 2 ). Then, they were paired by sex, age (3 years older or younger), and social class [we followed the classification criteria by classes of the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics (IBGE), which uses the monthly income of all the residents of the same house to list from the richest to the poorest]. Thus, they were divided into the following classes: A (monthly income above R$ 20,900), B (monthly income between R$ 10,450.01 and R$ 20,900), C (monthly income above R$ 4,180 but up to R$ 10,450), D (monthly income between R$ 2,090.01 and R$ 4,180), and E (monthly income of no more than R$ 2,090).
The absence of any major mental illness was defined by a direct interview in which questions about life experiences of memory loss, psychosis (delusions and/or hallucinations), depression, mania, generalized anxiety disorder, and obsessive-compulsive symptoms were asked. Additionally, the subjects were asked about regular physical activity as they were supposed to be sedentary. Exclusion criteria were the same as those applied to patients with SCZ.
The exclusion criteria were as follows: alcohol or other drug abuse in the previous month; major systemic or neurological diseases; physical disability contraindicating physical activity or any physical condition that makes physical activity unsafe; suicide risk confirmed by direct contact with the patient and family; pregnancy or women of reproductive age that did not use a contraception method; and not agreeing to participate in the study after full explanation of the program.
Controls were recruited through specific social networks (
The absence of any major mental illness was defined by a direct interview in which questions about life experiences of memory loss, psychosis (delusions and/or hallucinations), depression, mania, generalized anxiety disorder, and obsessive-compulsive symptoms were asked. Additionally, the subjects were asked about regular physical activity as they were supposed to be sedentary. Exclusion criteria were the same as those applied to patients with SCZ.
Free full text: Click here
