Objective: This study evaluated a population of outpatients with stable schizophrenia to analyze if relationships between patterns of symptomatology and quality of life (QOL) change during the time course of illness.
Methods: We recruited 168 outpatients with stable schizophrenia, and we further divided our sample into 3 groups of patients (
Results: Quality of life and symptoms profiles were similar among patient groups. After controlling for potentially confounding variables, multiple regression revealed that depressive symptoms appeared to have a stronger relationship with QOL during the early 3-year course of the illness. In the period between 4 and 6 years of illness, negative symptoms were the most reliable predictors of QOL. After the 6-year course of illness, negative symptoms remained the most reliable predictors of QOL, together with severity of illness, whereas positive and depressive symptoms had a minor role.
Conclusions: Despite similar QOL and symptoms profiles, these findings suggested that relationships among patterns of symptomatology and QOL change during the course of schizophrenia.
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http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.comppsych.2008.12.002 | DOI Listing |
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