Quality of life and standard of living in a randomly selected group of psychiatrically disabled people in Sweden 2 years after a psychiatry reform

Associations between resilience and quality of life in patients experiencing a depressive episode

Despite the obvious assumption that resilience affects the course of affective disorders, studies investigating resilience in people experiencing a depressive episode are scarce. The current study explored whether resilience might differently impact quality of life (QoL) in these patients as compared to healthy control subjects. To this end, 60 patients and 75 control subjects were included into a cross-sectional study. In patients, psychopathology was assessed by means of the Montgomery Asberg Depression Rating Scale (MADRS). The Resilience Scale (RS-25) and the WHOQOL-BREF were used in both patients and control subjects to assess resilience and QoL. Depressive patients indicated significantly lower degrees of resilience and QoL compared to healthy subjects. However, there was evidence that patients experiencing a depressive episode do not inevitably have low RS-25 scores. In healthy subjects, a moderate correlation was found between resilience and all WHOQOL-BREF domains, whereas in patients, resilience correlated moderately with global and psychological QoL and with environment. The mediation analysis revealed that the difference in QoL between patients and healthy subjects was partially mediated by resilience. The present study confirms the assumption that resilience is not merely characterized by the absence of psychopathology but is important for the QoL of patients experiencing a depressive episode.

Fewer symptoms vs. more side-effects in schizophrenia? Opposing pathways between antipsychotic medication compliance and quality of life

BACKGROUND

Non-compliance with medication often has long-term detrimental effects in patients with schizophrenia. However, when patients are compliant, it is not certain whether they experience short-term improved quality of life. By simultaneously reducing symptoms and increasing side-effects, compliance with antipsychotics may have opposing effects on a patient's perceived quality of life.

AIM

This study aimed to identify any clinical-empirical evidence for two pathways between compliance and quality of life.

METHOD

To evaluate various pathways between compliance (Service Engagement Scale plus a one-item rating), psychotic symptoms (Positive and Negative Syndromes Scale), adverse medication effects (Subjective Wellbeing under Neuroleptics scale), and quality of life (EQ-5D), we used Structural Equation Modeling on cross-sectional data of 114 patients with a psychotic disorder.

RESULTS

Compliance was not directly related to quality of life (r=0.004). The best-fitting model (chi(2)=1.08; df=1) indicated that high compliance was associated with fewer psychotic symptoms (beta=-0.23) and more adverse medication effects (beta=0.22). Symptoms (beta=-0.17) and adverse medication effects (beta=-0.48) were both related to lower quality of life.

DISCUSSION

Our results suggest that compliance with antipsychotics has two opposing pathways towards quality of life, albeit indirect ones. While compliance was associated with less severe psychotic symptoms, and was thus related to higher quality of life, it was also associated with more adverse medication effects, and was thus related to lower quality of life. However, due to our study design, we cannot draw firm conclusions on causality. Two possible clinical implications of the results for compliance and interventions are discussed.

Schizophrenia housing and supportive relationships

Schizophrenia can be a very disabling illness that affects between 0.5% and 1% of the population. This illness has a great personal impact on the individual sufferer, their family and friends. In addition, it makes significant demands on health services and the community in general. This paper reviews the literature on housing and supportive relationships for people with schizophrenia. The literature reports that people's experience of their schizophrenia is that it not only causes symptoms, but often impacts on their ability to maintain the basic resources in life. These resources include the ability to maintain reasonable quality housing, which seems to further impact negatively on their illness and their ability to maintain supportive social relationships. People with schizophrenia (and people in general) rely on their social relationships and family to maintain their mental health. The loss of social relationships and inability to maintain quality housing seem to be related - if people cannot maintain quality housing, they find it difficult to maintain supportive social relationships.

Adherence to medication and quality of life in people with schizophrenia: results of a European multicenter study

Quality of life is often severely impaired in people with schizophrenia, and adherence to antipsychotic medication has been consistently found to be low in this population. Although there is a considerable amount of evidence on these two variables in schizophrenia research, there is only limited knowledge on how they relate to one another. The aim of this study is to develop a meaningful model of the relationship between quality of life and adherence that includes mediating variables. A multicenter randomized controlled trial recruited 409 subjects in London, Verona, Amsterdam, and Leipzig. Baseline interviews obtained data on adherence, quality of life, and other variables. We used graphical modeling to investigate the relationships between the variables. No direct relation could be discerned between subjective quality of life and adherence to medication. Mediating variables, most importantly symptomatic impairment, global functioning, and medication side effects, were identified by the model. It can be concluded that, when aiming at the improvement of quality of life in people with schizophrenia, variables other than adherence, i.e., symptomatic impairment, global functioning, and medication side effects, should be targeted.