Outcome on quality of life in a Canadian national sample of patients with schizophrenia and related psychotic disorders.
OBJECTIVE
To examine changes in subjective and objective dimensions of quality of life (QoL) in a large Canadian sample of patients with diagnosis of schizophrenia or schizoaffective disorder treated in academic and non-academic settings over a 2-year period.


METHODS
Patients recruited in the study across the country were assessed for QoL and functioning using the Client and Provider versions of the Wisconsin Quality of Life Questionnaire (WQoL) and the Short Form-36 (SF-36) at baseline (n = 448), 1 year (n = 308-353) and 2 years (188-297). Data were analyzed to examine change across time using multivariate analyses controlling for potential influence of variables such as age, regional variation, gender, duration of illness, type of treatment taken and baseline measures of symptoms and QoL.


RESULTS
The weighted quality of life index (W-QoL-I) showed a significant change on both the client and the provider versions of the WQoL while the physical and mental composites of the SF-36 showed change only at 2 years. These changes were influenced significantly by baseline scores on W-QoL-I and in the case of provider version of the WQoL by baseline Brief Psychiatric Rating Scale (BPRS) scores. Regional variation or type of medication had no impact on improvement in QoL.


CONCLUSIONS
Within a naturalistic sample of schizophrenia patients treated and followed in routine care the overall QoL showed an improvement over time but this improvement was not influenced by the type of medication prescribed.
Malla
A
A
Department of Psychiatry, McGill University, Montreal, QC, Canada. ashok.malla@douglas.mcgill.ca
Williams
R
R
Kopala
L
L
Smith
G
G
Talling
D
D
Balshaw
R
R
D000046:Academic Medical Centers / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D002170:Canada; D003155:Community Mental Health Centers / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D019538:Health Care Surveys; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D017063:Outcome Assessment, Health Care / Q000379:methods*; D011618:Psychotic Disorders / Q000523:psychology*; D011788:Quality of Life / Q000523:psychology*; D012559:Schizophrenia / Q000188:drug therapy; D012565:Schizophrenic Psychology; D012737:Sex Factors; D018434:Sickness Impact Profile; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D013997:Time Factors