Quality of life and psychopathology during the course of schizophrenia

Objective

This study evaluated a population of outpatients with stable schizophrenia to analyze if relationships between patterns of symptomatology and quality of life (QOL) change during the time course of illness.

Methods

We recruited 168 outpatients with stable schizophrenia, and we further divided our sample into 3 groups of patients (≤36, 37-72, and >72 months of illness). Psychiatric assessment included the Quality of Life Scale, the Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale, the Calgary Depression Scale for Schizophrenia, and the Clinical Global Impression-Severity Scale. All clinical variables significantly related to Quality of Life Scale scores were subsequently analyzed using a multiple stepwise regression to assess their independent contribution to QOL in the 3 patient groups.

Results

Quality of life and symptoms profiles were similar among patient groups. After controlling for potentially confounding variables, multiple regression revealed that depressive symptoms appeared to have a stronger relationship with QOL during the early 3-year course of the illness.

In the period between 4 and 6 years of illness, negative symptoms were the most reliable predictors of QOL. After the 6-year course of illness, negative symptoms remained the most reliable predictors of QOL, together with severity of illness, whereas positive and depressive symptoms had a minor role.

Conclusions

Despite similar QOL and symptoms profiles, these findings suggested that relationships among patterns of symptomatology and QOL change during the course of schizophrenia.