Interview-based assessment of cognition is a strong predictor of quality of life in patients with schizophrenia and severe negative symptoms.
OBJECTIVE
To analyze the correlation between quality of life, symptoms, and cognition assessed by the interview-based Schizophrenia Cognition Rating Scale (SCoRS).


METHODS
Seventy-nine outpatients diagnosed with schizophrenia were evaluated with the Quality of Life Scale - Brazilian version (QLS-BR), the SCoRS, and symptoms scales (Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale [PANSS]). After determining the potential explanatory variables using Spearman's correlation and Student's t test results, we ran simple, multivariate, and decision-tree regression analyses to assess the impact of SCoRS and PANSS ratings on mean overall quality of life.


RESULTS
Cognitive deficits and negative symptoms were the best predictors of quality of life. A low degree of negative symptoms (PANSS negative < 11) was a strong predictor of better quality of life (QLS ∼ 75), regardless of SCoRS rating. Among participants with more severe negative symptoms, elevated cognitive impairment (interviewer SCoRS ∼ 44) was a predictor of worse quality of life (QLS ∼ 44).


CONCLUSIONS
Cognitive impairment determined by interview-based assessment seems to be a strong predictor of quality of life in subjects with severe negative symptoms. These results support the usefulness of SCoRS for cognitive assessment that is relevant to the everyday life of patients with schizophrenia.
Programa de Pós-Graduação em Neurociências, Instituto de Ciências Biológicas, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais (UFMG), Belo Horizonte, MG, Brazil.
Breno F
BF
Cruz
Grupo de Pesquisa em Psiquiatria e Cognição, Instituto Raul Soares, Fundação Hospitalar do Estado de Minas Gerais (FHEMIG), Belo Horizonte, MG, Brazil.
Camilo B de
CB
Resende
Instituto de Previdência dos Servidores do Estado de Minas Gerais (IPSEMG), Belo Horizonte, MG, Brazil.
Carolina F
CF
Carvalhaes
Departamento de Epidemiologia, Universidade Federal de São João del-Rei (UFSJ), São João del-Rei, MG, Brazil.
Clareci S
CS
Cardoso
Programa de Pós-Graduação em Neurociências, Instituto de Ciências Biológicas, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais (UFMG), Belo Horizonte, MG, Brazil.|Departamento de Medicina Interna, UFMG, Belo Horizonte, MG, Brazil.
Antonio L
AL
Teixeira
Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Duke University Medical Center, Durham, NC, USA.
Richard S
RS
Keefe
Instituto de Previdência dos Servidores do Estado de Minas Gerais (IPSEMG), Belo Horizonte, MG, Brazil.
Fábio L
FL
Rocha
Programa de Pós-Graduação em Neurociências, Instituto de Ciências Biológicas, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais (UFMG), Belo Horizonte, MG, Brazil.|Grupo de Pesquisa em Psiquiatria e Cognição, Instituto Raul Soares, Fundação Hospitalar do Estado de Minas Gerais (FHEMIG), Belo Horizonte, MG, Brazil.|Departamento de Morfologia, UFMG, Belo Horizonte, MG, Brazil.
João V
JV
Salgado
D000328:Adult; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D001938:Brazil; D060825:Cognitive Dysfunction / Q000503:physiopathology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests; D011237:Predictive Value of Tests; D011569:Psychiatric Status Rating Scales; D011594:Psychometrics; D011788:Quality of Life / Q000523:psychology*; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012559:Schizophrenia / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000503:physiopathology*; D012565:Schizophrenic Psychology; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D018709:Statistics, Nonparametric