Quality of life measurement in schizophrenia: 

reconciling the quest for subjectivity with the 

question of reliability

Voruganti, L. N. P.; Heslegrave, Ronald J.; Awad, A. George; Seeman, Mary V.

doi:10.1017/s0033291797005874

Cited by 241 publications

(149 citation statements)

References 26 publications

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“…12 Os coeficientes de correlação observados com a aplicação repetida dos mesmos instrumentos foram comparáveis aos encontrados em pacientes sem transtornos mentais. A confiabilidade não foi afetada pelos sintomas, dé-ficit cognitivo, dose e gravidade dos efeitos colaterais da medicação neuroléptica, ou atitude perante o tratamento.…”

Section: Confiabilidade E Validade Das Medidas De Qualidade De Vida Eunclassified

Fatores associados à qualidade de vida de pacientes com esquizofrenia

Souza

Coutinho

2006

Rev. Bras. Psiquiatr.

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A b s t r a c t Objective: Treatment of individuals with schizophrenia in Brazil has been gradually shifting from an almost exclusively hospitalbased approach to a community-based treatment. These patients have received treatments focused less on symptoms reduction, and more on social reintegration and improvement of their life conditions. Thus, it is necessary to evaluate the quality of life of these patients living in the community. Method: A review of studies was carried out to describe the distribution of sociodemographic and clinical factors that may influence quality of life of individuals with schizophrenia. Results: Twenty-five studies were selected, most of them from European countries. The majority of these studies was developed in the 90's. Almost all studies were crosssectional, and most of them evaluated samples of individuals living in the community. Sociodemographic factors, other than monthly income, were not associated to quality of life. However, some studies found associations between quality of life and gender, age, marital status and educational level. Depressive and anxiety symptoms were related to worse quality of life in several studies. Such finding was also true for negative and positive symptoms of schizophrenia, but without an homogeneous pattern. Conclusions: Generally, studies were not consistent regarding association between sociodemographic and clinical factors and quality of life of patients with schizophrenia. These lack of homogeneity may be due to either disease-related issues or design aspects of these studies, not adequate for causal inference.

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Section: Confiabilidade E Validade Das Medidas De Qualidade De Vida Eunclassified

Fatores associados à qualidade de vida de pacientes com esquizofrenia

Souza

Coutinho

2006

Rev. Bras. Psiquiatr.

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“…However, the predictors of QOL in schizophrenia are not well understood. Although no universal definition of QOL exists, the construct usually includes subjective well-being and objective mental and physical functioning indicators (Lehman, 1983b;Norman et al, 2000;Bow-Thomas et al, 1999;Voruganti et al, 1998;Russo et al, 1997;Lambert and Naber, 2004). Subjective QOL focuses on life satisfaction, whereas "objective" QOL focuses on participation in activities and interpersonal relationships.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Although some conceptualizations hold that QOL is always purely subjective, we have adopted Lehman's use of the terms "subjective" and "objective" QOL (Lehman, 1988) as a way to differentiate subjective life satisfaction from observable QOL indicators. Although Harvey and colleagues suggest that patients' self-report of functional capacity may be problematic (Harvey, Velligan, & Bellack, 2007), other research demonstrates that self-report measures of QOL are more valid than clinician-report QOL measures, and that QOL can be rated accurately and consistently by patients (Voruganti et al, 1998;Becchi et al, 2004).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Subjective and objective quality of life in schizophrenia

Narvaez¹,

Twamley²,

McKibbin³

et al. 2008

Schizophrenia Research

224

139

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Objective-Quality of life (QOL) is considered an important outcome in the treatment of schizophrenia, but the determinants of QOL are poorly understood in this population. Furthermore, previous studies have relied on combined measures of subjective QOL (usually defined as life satisfaction) and objective QOL (usually defined as participation in activities and relationships). We examined separately the clinical, functional, and cognitive predictors of subjective and objective QOL in outpatients with schizophrenia. We hypothesized that better subjective QOL would be associated with less severe negative and depressive symptoms, better objective QOL, and greater everyday functioning capacity, and that better objective QOL would be associated with less severe negative and depressive symptoms, better cognitive performance, and greater functional capacity.Method-Participants included 88 outpatients with schizophrenia or schizoaffective disorder who completed a comprehensive series of assessments, including measures of positive, negative, and depressive symptoms; performance-based functional skills; a neuropsychological battery; and an interview measure of subjective and objective QOL.Results-In the context of multiple predictor variables, more severe depressive symptoms and better neuropsychological functioning were independent predictors of worse subjective QOL. More severe negative symptoms predicted worse objective QOL. Functional capacity variables were not associated with subjective or objective QOL.Conclusion-Treatments to improve QOL in schizophrenia should focus on negative symptoms and depressive symptoms.

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“…No contexto da avaliação dos serviços de saúde mental, questiona-se em que grau os resultados do tratamento constituem um fator que contribui para uma melhor QV dos pacientes 2,[7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15][16][17][18] . A avaliação dos resultados do tratamento tem sido considerada uma parte importante da avaliação dos serviços, em particular com medidas relatadas pelos próprios pacientes, ou Patient-Reported Outcomes, também denominados instrumentos PRO 19 .…”

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Avaliação da qualidade de vida e percepção de mudança em pacientes com esquizofrenia

Cesari

Bandeira

2010

J. bras. psiquiatr.

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resumo objetivo: Investigar os fatores associados à qualidade de vida (QV) em pacientes com esquizofrenia, em particular a percepção de mudanças pelo próprio paciente, em função do tratamento recebido em serviços de saúde mental. método: O estudo foi conduzido em Divinópolis (MG), com pacientes atendidos no Serviço de Referência em Saúde Mental. Foram realizadas entrevistas individuais estruturadas com a aplicação da Escala de Qualidade de Vida (QLS-BR), Escala de Mudança Percebida (EMP) e questionário sociodemográfico e clínico. Foram conduzidas três análises de regressão linear múltipla, para determinar a importância relativa dos fatores preditores da QV. resultados: Participaram deste estudo 72 pacientes, sendo a maioria do sexo masculino (59,7%), com diagnóstico de esquizofrenia paranoide (87,5%). A QV dos pacientes enquadrou-se na categoria de considerável prejuízo, com um escore médio global de 3,64. A média global das mudanças percebidas pelos pacientes foi de 2,46. Os principais preditores de melhor QV foram: em primeiro lugar, o escore global de mudança percebida e os escores das subescalas "Aspectos psicológicos e sono" e "Ocupação e saúde física". Outros três preditores foram: estar trabalhando, tomar a medicação sozinho e fazer uso de medicação apenas do tipo oral. conclusão: A percepção de mudanças pelo próprio paciente, em função do tratamento, é um fator preditivo importante da QV. abstractObjective: To investigate the factors associated to the quality of life (QOL) of patients with schizophrenia, specially their own perception of changes as a result of treatment received in mental health services. Method: The study was conducted in Divinópolis (MG), with patients attending the Reference Service for Mental Health. Individual structured interviews were conducted in order to apply the Quality of Life Scale (QLS-BR), the Scale of Perceived Change (EMP) and socio-demographic and clinical questionnaire. Three multiple linear regression analysis were performed in order to determine the relative contributions of differents predictors of QOL. Results: Participated in this study 72 patients, mostly males (59.7%), diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia (87.5%). The patients' QOL fitted into the category of considerable damage, with a global average score of 3.64. The global average score of perceived chan-

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Quality of life measurement in schizophrenia: reconciling the quest for subjectivity with the question of reliability

Abstract: It is concluded that clinically compliant and stable patients with schizophrenia can evaluate and report their quality of life with a high degree of reliability and concurrent validity, implying that self-report measures are potentially useful tools in clinical trials and outcome studies.

Cited by 241 publications

References 26 publications

Fatores associados à qualidade de vida de pacientes com esquizofrenia

Fatores associados à qualidade de vida de pacientes com esquizofrenia

Subjective and objective quality of life in schizophrenia

Avaliação da qualidade de vida e percepção de mudança em pacientes com esquizofrenia

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