title: Health-related quality of life, adiposity, and sedentary behavior in patients with early schizophrenia: preliminary study.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To examine adiposity and sedentary behavior in relation to health-related quality of life (QoL) in patients with early schizophrenia.
  
  
  METHODS
  A cross-sectional study was used to assess adiposity by dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry scans, habitual physical activity and idle sitting time by the Short Form International Physical Activity Questionnaire, and health-related QoL by the RAND Medical Outcomes Study SF-36. QoL scores were compared with age-adjusted Canadian normative population data.
  
  
  RESULTS
  There were 36 participants with early schizophrenia, average age 25.1 (±3.6). Twenty-nine (72.5%) were males. Mean illness duration was 30 (±18) months, and mean body mass index was 28.3 (±5). Females had higher body fat content than males (30.8 ±6.9 vs 24.7 ± 10.6; t = -2.6, df = 34; P = 0.015). Total body fat (F = 14; P = 0.001), lean body mass (F = 10.2; P = 0.001), and sedentary behavior (F = 5; P = 0.013) significantly increased across body mass index categories. Total body fat was correlated with sedentary behavior (r = 0.62; P = 0.001), and total lean body mass was negatively correlated with sedentary behavior (r = 0.39; P = 0.03). Based on SF-36 scores, participants had significantly lower physical functioning (P = 0.0034), role physical (P = 0.0003), general health (P < 0.0001), vitality (P = 0.03), and physical component scores (P = 0.003) than Canadian population comparisons. Habitual sedentary behavior, more than activity or adiposity levels, was associated with health-related QoL in early schizophrenia.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Health-related QoL is lower in early schizophrenia and is predominantly experienced in the physical domain. QoL in early schizophrenia relates to sedentary behavior more than to activity and adiposity levels.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, Miller School of Medicine, University of Miami, Miami, FL, USA;
authors.forename: Martin
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Strassnig
authors.forename: Jaspreet S
authors.initials: JS
authors.lastname: Brar
authors.forename: Rohan
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Ganguli