A functional comparison of patients with schizophrenia between the North and South of Europe

Overestimated function in patients with schizophrenia: A possible risk factor for inadequate support?

People with schizophrenia often demonstrate an impaired ability to assess and report aspects of their everyday functioning, and the aim of this study is to investigate how patients' self-rating ability regarding functional performance relates to neurocognitive performance and real-world functional performance. A total of 222 outpatients with a schizophrenia spectrum disorder participated in this study. They were divided into groups based on their self-rating ability (determined using self-rating questions) and their observed functional capacity (the UCSD Performance-Based Skills Assessment-Brief, UPSA-B). The results showed that patients with impaired functional capacity perform at a similar cognitive level, regardless of their self-rating ability. When comparing patients with unimpaired function to those with impaired function, we found differences in two cognitive domains; premorbid functioning and executive functioning. The results also reveal that clinicians seem to have greater difficulty assessing patients who over-estimate their functioning. Consequently, when clinicians assessed the patients with the Specific Levels of Functioning Scale (SLOF) no significant differences were found between the group with unimpaired function and the group of overestimators. Patients who overestimate their functioning risk receiving inadequate treatment and support.

Positive and negative affect in schizophrenia spectrum disorders: A forgotten dimension?

Dysfunctional affectivity is common in schizophrenia spectrum disorders (SSD), and may influence quality of life, illness progression and treatment effects. This study describes Positive (PA) and Negative (NA) affect and their relationship to demographic and clinical variables in 135 individuals with SSD. Affect dimensions were assessed by the Positive and Negative Affect Schedule (PANAS). Stepwise regression analyses with affects as dependent variables and demographic and clinical factors as independent variables were performed. Relative to healthy norms, the participants exhibited lower PA and a similar NA level. The PA score was not influenced by demographic or clinical variables. The NA score was predicted by a combination of male gender, single status, and items of general psychopathology from the Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale (PANSS). There was no relation between affects and classical schizophrenia symptoms. In conclusion, the SSD patients exhibited abnormally low PA. The affect level was not influenced by psychosis symptom severity, indicating that the PANAS is a relatively unbiased rating tool of affective responding in SSD. Finally, male gender, single status and general distress were modestly related to NA.

Assessing the Relationship between Performance on the University of California Performance Skills Assessment (UPSA) and Outcomes in Schizophrenia: A Systematic Review and Evidence Synthesis

OBJECTIVE

To perform a systematic review of the published literature to evaluate how functional capacity, as measured by the University of California at San Diego (UCSD) Performance-based Skills Assessment (UPSA), relates to other functional measures and real-world outcomes among individuals with schizophrenia.

METHODS

The MEDLINE® and Embase® databases were searched to identify joint evaluations with UPSA and key functional outcomes (functional scale measures; generic or disease-specific, health-related quality of life [HRQoL]; or real-world outcomes [residential status; employment status]) in patients with schizophrenia. Pearson correlations were estimated between UPSA scores, HRQoL, other functional scale measures, and real-world outcomes, for outcomes described in at least six studies.

RESULTS

The synthesis included 76 studies that provided 73 unique data sets. Quantitative assessment between the Specific Level of Function (SLOF) (n=18) scores and UPSA scores demonstrated a moderate borderline-significant correlation (0.45, p=0.06). Quantitative analysis of the relationship between the Global Assessment of Functioning (GAF) (n=11) and the Multidimensional Scale of Independent Functioning (MSIF) (n=6) scales revealed moderate and small nonsignificant Pearson correlations of -0.34 (p=0.31) and 0.12 (p=0.83), respectively. There was a small borderline-significant correlation between UPSA score and residential status (n=36; 0.31; p=0.08), while no correlation was found between UPSA score and employment status (n=19; 0.04; p=0.88).

CONCLUSION

The SLOF was the most often used functional measure and had the strongest observed correlation with the UPSA. Although knowledge gaps remain, evidence from this review indicates that there is a quantitative relationship between functional capacity and real-world outcomes in individuals with schizophrenia.

Issues and developments related to assessing function in serious mental illness

Serious mental illness (SMI) results in functional disability that imposes a significant burden on individuals, caregivers, and society. Development of novel treatments is under way in an effort to improve the illness domains of cognitive impairment and negative symptoms and subsequently to improve functional outcomes. The assessment of functional outcomes in SMI faces a number of challenges, including the proliferation of assessment instruments and the differential prioritization of functional goals among stakeholder groups. Functional assessments relying on self- and informant report present a number of limitations. Identifying alternative strategies to assess functioning that are reliable, valid, and sensitive to change is necessary for use in clinical trials. Measures of functional capacity have been proposed for clinical trials investigating compounds to treat cognitive impairment in schizophrenia. Alternative approaches employing effort-based decision making or daily activity recording using instruments such as the Daily Activity Report may be more appropriate for studies focused on improving negative symptoms.

Predicting real-world functional milestones in schizophrenia

Schizophrenia is a severe disorder that often causes impairments in major areas of functioning, and most patients do not achieve expected real-world functional milestones. The aim of this study was to identify which variables of demography, illness activity, and functional capacity predict patients' ability to attain real-world functional milestones. Participants were 235 outpatients, 149 men and 86 women, diagnosed with schizophrenia spectrum disorder. Our results showed that younger patients managed to achieve a higher level of functioning in educational level, marital status, and social contacts. Patients' functional capacity was primarily associated with educational level and housing situation. We also found that women needed less support regarding housing and obtained a higher level of marital status as compared with men. Our findings demonstrate the importance of considering current symptoms, especially negative symptoms, and remission stability over time, together with age, duration of illness, gender, educational level, and current functional capacity, when predicting patients' future real-world functioning. We also conclude that there is an advantage in exploring symptoms divided into positive, negative, and general domains considering their probable impact on functional achievements.

UCSD Performance-Based Skills Assessment (UPSA): validation of a Brazilian version in patients with schizophrenia

The UCSD Performance-based Skills Assessment (UPSA) is a measure of Functional Capacity and assesses skills involved in community tasks. It has good psychometrics properties, and is currently recommended as a co-primary assessment of cognition in the MATRICS Project. To our knowledge so far, there are no studies in western developing countries concerning Functional Capacity in Schizophrenia. The aims of this study were to translate, culturally adapt and validate the UPSA to assess Functional Capacity in community-dwelling patients with Schizophrenia living in Brazil. Eighty-two subjects (52 patients, 30 controls) were evaluated using: the Brazilian version of the UPSA (UPSA-1-BR), PANSS, Personal and Social Performance (PSP) and Global Assessment of Functioning (GAF). In the reliability test, UPSA-1-BR showed good Internal Consistency (Cronbach’s alpha of 0.88) and strong correlation between test and retest (4-month gap; r = 0.91; p < 0.01). Spearman’s rho values showed a moderate correlation between UPSA-1-BR and both PSP (0.50; p < 0.01) and GAF (0.46; p < 0.01) scores. UPSA-1-BR is capable of differentiating people with and without Schizophrenia. Patients scored lower than controls (58.9 versus 79.1), with an AUC of 0.79 (95%IC: 0.69–0.89). Sensitivity and specificity values of 0.71 and 0.70, respectively, were found in the cut-off point of 73.5, for separation of patients and controls, with predictive values of 80% (positive) and 58% (negative). UPSA-B-BR was also evaluated. UPSA-1-BR and its brief version presented adequate psychometric properties and proved to be valid and reliable instruments in the assessment of Functional Capacity in subjects with Schizophrenia.