Quality of Life in Remitted Patients with Schizophrenia: A Cross-Sectional Study

Abstract

Background: Assessment of the Quality of Life (QOL) is increasingly performed as an efficient method to assess the quality of care provided for patients with schizophrenia. Also, the QOL assessment performed by patients themselves is more affected by the symptoms of schizophrenia. Therefore, a mental health professional evaluation may provide more objective information. This study was undertaken to objectively assess QOL in a group of remitted patients with schizophrenia in Iran by using Quality of Life Scale (QLS).

Methods:  This descriptive cross-sectional study was performed on 85 remitted patients with schizophrenia consecutively referred to Roozbeh Hospital. The mean age of the participants was 37.81±9.92 years, 54 (63.53%) were male, 16 (18.8%) were married, and 19 (22.4%) were employed. The Quality of Life Scale (QLS) was used to collect data through face-to-face interviews.

Results: The total score of QLS for patients is 2.95±0.93. Among subscales, the interpersonal relations scores (2.44±1.10) and intrapsychic foundations scores (2.90±1.07) were lower than the other domains scores. The QLS score was higher in patients with an associate degree or higher level of education (p-value<0.01) and those living with family members (p-value<0.01). The overall employment rate was low among the patients. There was no significant relationship between current doses of various medications and any QLS domain scores; however, a significant inverse relationship was between the current doses of first- and second-generation antipsychotics and the instrumental role domain score.

Conclusion: The findings of this study showed that the scores of different domains of QLS were low in the remitted patients with schizophrenia. The impact of different antipsychotic treatments and their side effects on the QOL should be addressed in future studies.