[Quality of life--what it means to me... Results of a survey among schizophrenic patients].

Purpose: In recent years numerous studies have been published on the quality of life of schizophrenic patients. However, the patients' understanding of what quality of life is about has not been given sufficient attention.

Method: 565 schizophrenic patients from the whole of Germany were asked what quality of life meant for them.

Results: Aspects of quality of life which can be subsumed under the heading of social integration were cited most frequently. As for the study as a whole, the most important aspect in this context was work and employment. Health represented a second domain. More specifically, respondents cited health in general (which was the second most frequently cited overall aspect) or health with respect to their mental illness in the sense of absence of symptoms and illness-related impairments. A third domain includes various components of well-being such "joie de vivre" or independence. Psychiatric treatment was associated with quality of life only as an exception, and if so only in negative terms.

Discussion: The results are contrasted with a comparable survey among psychiatrists.