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

Abstract

Background: The Quality of Life Scale (QLS) was developed to assess the quality of life of patients with schizophrenia, by Heinrichs, Hanlon and Carpenter, in 1984. Objectives: This systematic review analysed the scientific evidence produced from the QLS results and its relationship with the symptomatology of patients with schizophrenia. Methods: An electronic search was conducted on Pubmed/Medline and Scopus to identify relevant papers published within the last ten years (January 2007 to December 2016). The inclusion criteria were: studies whose samples included only outpatients with schizophrenia; studies whose aim was to compare the QLS results with the symptomatology of schizophrenia; studies written in English. The PRISMA criteria for reporting systematic reviews and meta-analyses were used. Results: Twelve studies were included in this systematic review. A total of 1645 patients with schizophrenia from four different countries were analysed. Ten articles used a cross-sectional study methodology and 2 articles involved a longitudinal study. Conclusions: Synthesis suggests that quality of life/functioning in patients with schizophrenia can be influenced by negative symptoms. Nevertheless, in relation to positive and depressive symptoms, the results are not congruent nor consistent. Therefore, this literature review indicated that more research is needed in order to obtain better evidence with regards to the influence of that symptomatology on the quality of life/functioning in patients with schizophrenia.

Assessing the efficacy and feasibility of providing metacognitive training for patients with schizophrenia by mental health nurses: A randomized controlled trial

“…However, another study that used the GAF measure observed no significant differences between groups, but their sample consisted of patients who had severe problems in organizing their everyday activities and self‐care (Gawęda et al., 2015), which may explain the discrepancies. The improvement of social functioning in the MCT group may be associated with the improvement of positive symptoms, although a previous systematic review identified no conclusive relationship between positive symptoms and functioning in schizophrenia and more studies are needed (Pinho et al., 2018). However, that review only evaluated studies that used the Quality of Life Scale (QLS).…”

High Schizotypy Predicts Emotion Recognition Independently of Negative Affect

“…Negative symptoms can be broadly categorised as expressive (restricted affect and alogia) and experiential (avolition and apathy, and asociality) ( 3 ). Negative symptoms in particular are associated with poorer functional outcomes ( 4 , 5 ), including lower employment rates ( 6 ), smaller social networks ( 7 ), and poorer quality of life ( 8 – 10 ). Commonly, it is the negative symptoms and disorganised symptoms that are most consistently associated with poorer social cognition in schizophrenia ( 11 ).…”

Clarifying pathways to poor psychological health: The mediating role of psychosocial factors in the relationship between general psychopathology and quality of life impairment in patients diagnosed with schizophrenia

“…While the development of medications and psychological interventions have provided some relief from the symptoms of the illness, it is acknowledged that the treatment of schizophrenia goes beyond the alleviation of symptomatology (Landolt et al, ; Torres‐González et al, ). One area which has received considerable empirical and clinical support is the importance of improving quality of life (QOL) among patients with schizophrenia (de Pinho, Pereira, Chaves, & Batista, ; Lu et al, ). Broadly speaking, QOL may be defined as an individual's sense of well‐being and satisfaction with his or her life circumstances, his or her physical and mental health status, as well as his or her access to resources and opportunities (Eack & Newhill, ).…”

“…Previous research has focused on examining the prevalence, correlates, and impact of QOL impairment among patients with schizophrenia (Eack & Newhill, ; Sim, Mahendran, Siris, Heckers, & Chong, ). Recent reviews have shown that psychiatric symptoms (psychotic symptoms and general psychopathology) are negatively related to QOL in patients with schizophrenia (de Pinho et al, ; Lu et al, ). Importantly, recent studies have supported previous findings (Eack & Newhill, ) on the strong association between general psychopathology and QOL impairment (Gardsjord et al, ; Wartelsteiner et al, ).…”

“…This is largely due to the significant heterogeneity of nonpsychotic symptoms that fall within the broad domain of general psychopathology (Eack & Newhill, ). While some have proposed that depression and anxiety symptoms are more related to QOL impairment (Kuo, Ma, Kuo, Huang, & Chung, ), the consensus in the current literature is that the contribution of specific nonpsychotic symptom domains to QOL remains unclear (de Pinho et al, ; Eack & Newhill, ).…”