Predicting changes in domain-specific quality of life of schizophrenia patients

• Published in: The journal of nervous and mental disease Vol. 191; no. 5; pp. 287 - 294
• Main Author: RITSNER, Michael
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Hagerstown, MD Lippincott Williams & Wilkins 01-05-2003
• Subjects: Activities of Daily Living; Adaptation, Psychological; Adolescent; Adult; Adult and adolescent clinical studies; Attitude to Health; Awareness; Biological and medical sciences; Female; Follow-Up Studies; Health Status; Humans; Longitudinal Studies; Male; Medical sciences; Middle Aged; Personal Satisfaction; Personality Inventory; Probability; Prognosis; Prospective Studies; Psychiatric Status Rating Scales; Psychology. Psychoanalysis. Psychiatry; Psychopathology. Psychiatry; Psychoses; Quality of Life; Schizophrenia; Schizophrenia - diagnosis; Schizophrenic Psychology; Surveys and Questionnaires; Human; Attitude; Prediction; Satisfaction; Schizophrenia; Personality; Change; Stress; Quality of life; Psychosis; Symptomatology; Leisure; Self efficacy; Self esteem; Social support
• ISSN: 0022-3018
• DOI: 10.1097/00005053-200305000-00003

The author sought to determine domain-specific quality of life (QOL) changes over time and to identify predictors of change in life satisfaction among schizophrenia patients. He assessed 148 schizophrenia inpatients at admission and 16 months later. Multiple regression analysis identified predictors of domain-specific changes in QOL from changes in psychopathology, emotional distress, side effects, insight, and stress process-related factors ratings. On the group level, satisfaction with subjective feelings and leisure activities improved significantly during the follow-up period. Individual changes in specific QOL domains are influenced by different patterns of predictors that accounted for 12% to 36% of variance. Emotional distress, paranoid symptoms, side effects, and insight inversely associated with variability of scores in domain-specific QOL. Changes in self-efficacy, self-esteem, and support from others were positively correlated to improvement in QOL domain ratings. Schizophrenia patients may experience improvement in specific QOL domains. Changes in stress process-related factors are stronger predictors of fluctuations in QOL domains than changes in illness symptoms and should be considered when evaluating life satisfaction.