Health related quality of life in patients having schizophrenia negative symptoms – a systematic review

Abstract

Background: Schizophrenia negative symptoms (SNS) contribute substantially to poor functional outcomes, loss in productivity and poor quality of life. It is unclear which instruments may be used for assessing quality of life in patients with SNS.Objective: The objective of this review was to identify instruments assessing health-related quality of life (HRQoL) validated in patients with SNS and to assess their level of validation.Data sources: We conducted a systematic literature review in Medline and the ISPOR database in March 2016 to identify studies on the quality of life in patients with SNS published by March 2016.Data extraction: Psychometric properties and validation steps.Data synthesis: After applying inclusion/exclusion criteria, 49 studies were selected for the analysis of HRQoL instruments; however, none of these instruments only addressed patients with SNS. Of these, 19 HRQoL instruments used in patients with schizophrenia or including patients with SNS among others, in the context of instrument validation, were identified (4 generic, 10 non-specific mental health, 5 schizophrenia-specific).Conclusion: No HRQoL instrument has been validated in patients with SNS only; for the remaining instruments identified, it remains unclear whether they were intended to capture HRQoL in patients with SNS.

Relationship between Positive, Negative Symptoms and Quality of Life among Schizophrenic Patients

“…Negative symptoms involve affective flattening or blunting, alogia or poverty of speech, avolition or apathy, asociality or anhedonia, and impaired attention. In addition to cognitive symptoms involve memory, attention, and executive functioning disorders (Azaiez et al, 2018).…”

Correlation of Health-Related Quality of Life with Negative Symptoms Assessed with the Self-Evaluation of Negative Symptoms Scale (SNS) and Cognitive Deficits in Schizophrenia: A Cross-Sectional Study in Routine Psychiatric Care

“…We used the SF-36, which is a generic profile measure [14]. The SF-36 was proven applicable in schizophrenia research by some researchers [7,47]. However, other researchers found unclear results about the applicability of generic HRQoL measures for patients with schizophrenia [53,54].…”

“…Around 90 percent of patients diagnosed with schizophrenia have cognitive deficits, and approximately 50 to 60 percent have negative symptoms [3,4]. Both cognitive deficits and negative symptoms have predictive value for the onset of psychosis and the severity and the outcomes of the disease [5][6][7]. Moreover, negative symptoms are present in 50-70% of first-episode psychosis patients later diagnosed with schizophrenia, and around 10 to 30% of them develop at least one persistent negative symptom [8,9].…”

Recovering quality of life in outpatients with psychosis spectrum disorders and its association with the symptom domains

“…Finally, transcranial magnetic stimulation and electroconvulsive therapy could be considered, but they are only indicated when several previous therapeutic approaches proved to be ineffective. Negative symptoms are an area of unmet therapeutic need in psychotic patients (22). Symptoms such as alogia, asociality, anhedonia, blunted affect or avolition have been associated with a limited response to pharmacotherapies and poor functional outcomes (23).…”