Association of social support and quality of life among people with schizophrenia receiving community psychiatric service: A cross-sectional study.
To understand the needs of patients with schizophrenia for recovery, this study examined the type and level of social support and its association with quality of life (QOL) among this group of patients in the city of Kuala Lumpur.



A cross-sectional study was conducted on 160 individuals with schizophrenia receiving community psychiatric services in Hospital Kuala Lumpur (HKL). The WHOQOL-BREF, Brief Psychiatric Rating Scale (BPRS) and Multidimensional Scale of Perceived Social Support (MSPSS) were used to assess QOL, severity of symptoms and social support, respectively. The study respondents were predominantly Malay, aged less than 40, males, single, unmarried, had lower education levels and unemployed.



About 72% of the respondents had poor perceived social support, with support from significant others being the lowest, followed by friends and family. From multiple regression analysis, social support (total, friend and family) significantly predicted better QOL in all domains; [B=0.315 (p<0.001), B=0.670 (p<0.001), B=0.257 (p<0.031)] respectively in Physical Domain; [B=0.491 (p<0.001), B=0.735 (p<0.001), B=0.631 (p<0.001)] in Psychological Domain; [B=1.065 (p<0.001), B=0.670 (p<0.017), B=2.076 (p<0.001)] in Social Domain and; [B=0.652 (p<0.001), B=1.199 (p<0.001), B=0.678 (p<0.001)] in Environmental Domain. Being married and having shorter duration of illness, lower BPRS (total) scores, female gender and smoking, were also found to significantly predict higher QOL.



Social support is an important missing component among people with schizophrenia who are already receiving formal psychiatric services in Malaysia.
Department of Psychiatry, Hospital Tuanku Jaafar Seremban, Malaysia.
Thurkadevi
T
Munikanan
Department of Psychiatry, Faculty of Medicine, University Kebangsaan, Malaysia. Electronic address: marhani@ppukm.ukm.edu.my.
Marhani
M
Midin
Department of Psychiatry, Faculty of Medicine, University Kebangsaan, Malaysia.
Tuti Iryani Mohd
TIM
Daud
Department of Psychiatry, Hospital Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
Riana Abdul
RA
Rahim
Hospital Permai, Johor Bharu, Malaysia.
Abdul Kadir Abu
AKA
Bakar
Department of Psychiatry, Faculty of Medicine, University Kebangsaan, Malaysia.
Nik Ruzyanei Nik
NRN
Jaafar
Department of Psychiatry, Faculty of Medicine, University Kebangsaan, Malaysia.
Hatta
H
Sidi
Department of Psychiatry, Faculty of Medicine, University Kebangsaan, Malaysia.
Najwa
N
Baharuddin
D000328:Adult; D010054:Brief Psychiatric Rating Scale; D003156:Community Mental Health Services / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008296:Malaysia; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011788:Quality of Life / Q000523:psychology*; D012559:Schizophrenia / Q000628:therapy*; D012565:Schizophrenic Psychology; D012944:Social Support; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires