title: Quality of life in people with mental illness in non-residential community mental health services in Hong Kong.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To identify the subjective quality of life in people with chronic mental health problems who were in non-residential community mental health services, and to investigate factors affecting their quality of life after the illness.
  
  
  METHODS
  People with mental illness (n = 105) were recruited. They were assessed with the self-rated Hong Kong Chinese version of the World Health Organization Quality of Life Brief questionnaire.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The participants had lower total quality-of-life and the 4 domain scores of the questionnaire than the general population. They were particularly dissatisfied with their financial situation. Duration of illness was positively correlated with subjective quality-of-life variables while age at onset of the mental illness was negatively correlated with subjective quality of life, in particular the physical health, psychological health, and environmental domains.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  This study highlighted the significance of duration and age at onset of illness in subjective quality of life of people with mental illness. A longitudinal study to test the causal relationships between these factors and the quality of life in people with mental illness is recommended.
authors.affiliation: Department of Social Work, Hong Kong Baptist University, Hong Kong SAR, China.
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Ng
authors.affiliation: Department of Social Work, Hong Kong Baptist University, Hong Kong SAR, China.
authors.forename: J Y
authors.initials: JY
authors.lastname: Pan
authors.affiliation: Occupational Therapist, Richmond Fellowship of Hong Kong, Hong Kong SAR, China.
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Lam
authors.affiliation: California School of Professional Psychology, Alliant International University, San Francisco, California, United States.
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Leung
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D017668:Age of Onset; D000368:Aged; D002908:Chronic Disease / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000523:psychology; D003156:Community Mental Health Services; D004651:Employment / Q000523:psychology; D005260:Female; D006723:Hong Kong / Q000453:epidemiology; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D001523:Mental Disorders / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000523:psychology*; D008875:Middle Aged; D011788:Quality of Life / Q000523:psychology*; D057566:Self Report; D013997:Time Factors; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: Community mental health services; Hong Kong; Mental disorders; Quality of life; Schizophrenia