Measurement of quality of life in schizophrenia: a comparison of two scales.

BACKGROUND: People with schizophrenia have an impaired quality of life (QoL), and various QoL assessment scales are available. However it is not clear which scale should be used in different situations. We aimed to compare a patient-rated subjective QoL scale with an observer-rated QoL scale by measuring their degree of correlation and their respective associative profiles with outcome measures. METHOD: Patients of the UK Schizophrenia Care and Assessment Program completed a patient-rated QoL questionnaire (MANSA). Research staff completed the observer-rated QoL tool (QLS) as part of an assessment of symptomatology and functioning. RESULTS: The two QoL tools were moderately positively correlated (r = 0.39). Both scales were negatively correlated with positive and negative symptoms of schizophrenia and depressive symptoms, and positively correlated with functioning scores. However the two scales were influenced by different factors. The patient-rated QoL was more significantly influenced by depressive symptoms, and the observer-rated QoL was more heavily influenced by negative symptoms. CONCLUSIONS: Patient-rated and observer-rated QoL are moderately related, with a number of joint determinants, but the former is sensitive to depressive influences, whilst the latter is sensitive to the negative symptomatology of schizophrenia.

The dental health of people with schizophrenia.

OBJECTIVE: To examine the dental health of community dwelling people with schizophrenia and to compare results with those in the general population. METHOD: Dental health of 428 people with schizophrenia in six different areas of the UK was assessed by a self-report questionnaire. RESULTS: Compared with the general population, significantly more of the younger patients were edentate (3-39% vs. 1-20%) and fewer had more than 20 teeth (70% vs. 83%). None of four dental health targets had been achieved in the patient population. More patients had last visited the dentist because of trouble with their teeth; fewer had visited for a check-up. Fewer patients cleaned their teeth daily; this group had more negative symptoms. CONCLUSION: The dental health of people with schizophrenia is poor. Community mental health teams should encourage them to attend their community dentist regularly.