Interview-based assessment of cognition is a strong predictor of quality of life in patients with schizophrenia and severe negative symptoms

Abstract

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 o 11) was a strong predictor of better quality of life (QLS B 75), regardless of SCoRS rating. Among participants with more severe negative symptoms, elevated cognitive impairment (interviewer SCoRS B 44) was a predictor of worse quality of life (QLS B 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.

Quality of Life Scale and symptomatology of schizophrenic patients – A systematic review

“…In one study, 28 the results demonstrated that the best predictors of quality of life are negative symptoms and cognitive deficits. Better QLS results were found in patients with fewer negative symptoms regardless of the results of the Schizophrenia Cognition Rating Scale (SCoRS).…”

Comparison of Correlations between Symptom Dimensions and Subjective Quality Of Life in Mexican Outpatients with Psychosis

“…Significant negative associations between symptoms and QoL in patients with psychosis have been reported in a first-episode [35] and through the short [36] and long [37,38] course of illness. Research has been performed in samples from diverse countries as United Kingdom [39], Italy [38], Greece [18], Austria [11], India [35], Japan [20], Chile [40] and Brazil [41], reflecting a world growing scientific interest to study the link between psychiatric symptoms and QoL. Yet, the reported findings concerning the patterns of these associations are quite diverse and thus, further analyses are required.…”

“…delusions, hallucinations, conceptual disorganization) the self-perceived QoL cannot be reliably measured; thus, samples exclude these patients and that might well explain the weak, though significant, positive symptom -QoL association. Negative symptoms influence QoL [17,39,41,[43][44][45], even more than positive symptoms [35,43]. It has been observed that the association between negative symptoms and QoL is related primarily to experiential deficits (i.e.…”

“…asociality, anhedonia, amotivation), highlighting the importance of differentiate subdomains in the negative dimension [39]. Also, cognitive deficits and insight (usually included in the general psychopathology dimension) seem to have an important role in this association; yet, only for those with severe negative symptoms [41,44]. Therefore, it seems that negative symptoms, at a high level, relates to QoL but it does through the indirect effect of other related symptoms from the general psychopathology dimension.…”

Let’s Talk about the Association between Schizophrenia Polygenic Risk Scores and Cognition in Patients and the General Population: A Review

“…Already the disease itself has a tremendous impact on the life of affected individuals [54] . Additionally, they suffer enormously under the cognitive impairments with a strong impact on their quality of life [55][56][57] . Until today there is no psychopharmacological treatment available for cognitive deficits.…”