title: Quality of Life Outcomes in Community-based Mental Health Consumers: Comparisons with Population Norms and Changes over Time.
abstract: Quality of life is shown to be lower in people diagnosed with mental illness in comparison to the general population. The aim of this study is to examine the Quality of life in a subset of people accessing mental health services in a regional Queensland Centre. Thirty-seven people accessing mental health services completed the SF36 Health Survey on three occasions. Differences and relationships between Physical Composite Scores and Mental Composite Scores, comparisons with Australian population norms, and temporal change in Quality of Life were examined. Physical Composite Scores were significantly different to, but significantly correlated with, Mental Composite Scores on each occasion. Physical Composite Scores and Mental Composite Scores were significantly different to population norms, and did not vary significantly across time. The poor Quality of life of people with mental illness remains a significant challenge for the mental health workforce.
authors.affiliation: a SYNERGY: Nursing and Midwifery Research Centre , University of Canberra and ACT Health , Australia.
authors.forename: Brenda
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Happell
authors.affiliation: b School of Medical and Applied Sciences , Central Queensland University , Australia.
authors.forename: Robert
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Stanton
authors.affiliation: b School of Medical and Applied Sciences , Central Queensland University , Australia.
authors.forename: Danya
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Hodgetts
authors.affiliation: c School of Clinical Studies , Monash University , Australia.
authors.forename: David
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Scott
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D005260:Female; D006306:Health Surveys; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D001523:Mental Disorders / Q000523:psychology* / Q000628:therapy; D008605:Mental Health Services; D008875:Middle Aged; D011788:Quality of Life; D011793:Queensland; D012111:Residence Characteristics