Health-related quality of life, adiposity, and sedentary behavior in patients with early schizophrenia: preliminary study

Abstract

Objective

To examine adiposity and sedentary behavior in relation to health-related quality of life (QoL) in patients with early schizophrenia.

Methods

A cross-sectional study was used to assess adiposity by dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry scans, habitual physical activity and idle sitting time by the Short Form International Physical Activity Questionnaire, and health-related QoL by the RAND Medical Outcomes Study SF-36. QoL scores were compared with age-adjusted Canadian normative population data.

Results

There were 36 participants with early schizophrenia, average age 25.1 (±3.6). Twenty-nine (72.5%) were males. Mean illness duration was 30 (±18) months, and mean body mass index was 28.3 (±5). Females had higher body fat content than males (30.8 ±6.9 vs 24.7 ± 10.6; t = −2.6, df = 34; P = 0.015). Total body fat (F = 14; P = 0.001), lean body mass (F = 10.2; P = 0.001), and sedentary behavior (F = 5; P = 0.013) significantly increased across body mass index categories. Total body fat was correlated with sedentary behavior (r = 0.62; P = 0.001), and total lean body mass was negatively correlated with sedentary behavior (r = 0.39; P = 0.03). Based on SF-36 scores, participants had significantly lower physical functioning (P = 0.0034), role physical (P = 0.0003), general health (P < 0.0001), vitality (P = 0.03), and physical component scores (P = 0.003) than Canadian population comparisons. Habitual sedentary behavior, more than activity or adiposity levels, was associated with health-related QoL in early schizophrenia.

Conclusion

Health-related QoL is lower in early schizophrenia and is predominantly experienced in the physical domain. QoL in early schizophrenia relates to sedentary behavior more than to activity and adiposity levels.

Keywords:

• obesity
• CVD risk
• activity levels
• BMI

Acknowledgments

The authors thank NARSAD for the funding supporting this study via a 2008 Young Investigator Award (80-216) to Dr Strassnig. Dr Ganguli is supported partially by a Tier 1 Canada Research Chair from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research. We wish to acknowledge that the Short Form 36 (SF-36) was developed at RAND as part of the Medical Outcomes Study. We also wish to acknowledge the support of the Centre of Excellence in Skeletal Health Assessment at the University of Toronto, Toronto Western Hospital, under the direction of Dr Angela Cheung.

Disclosure

The authors report no conflicts of interest in this work.