Gender Differences in Psychiatric Symptoms and the Social Functioning of 610 Patients with Schizophrenia in Urban China: A 10-Year Follow-Up Study

Abstract

Purpose

To explore the different outcomes between male and female patients with schizophrenia after long-term follow-up.

Patients and Methods

Schizophrenia patients were participants in our study. First, two senior psychiatrists collected data on the demographic characteristics and clinical symptoms of patients from the Hospital Information System between February 2009 and January 2010. Second, two other senior psychiatrists called the patients and their guardians between February 2019 and January 2020 to get general information on the patients and assess their psychiatric symptoms and social functioning using the Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale (PANSS) and the Personal and Social Performance (PSP) scale.

Results

Of the 610 participants, the 306 female participants were younger (48.32 ± 12.99 vs 49.84 ± 12.60) and had received more education (8.08 ± 3.76 vs 7.94 ±3 0.73). After 10 years, women were found to have more outpatient visits than men (20.86 ± 22.21 vs 16.11 ± 16.87, P < 0.05). However, there was no significant gender difference in number of hospitalizations (3.12 ± 5.34 vs 2.77 ± 5.84, P > 0.05). The PANSS scores were lower for both groups at the 10-year follow-up. Women had significantly lower scores than men after the 10-year period (P < 0.05). With regard to social functioning, there was a significant difference in social functioning between baseline scores and 10-year follow-up scores indicating an improvement in social functioning. PSP scores had significantly increased in women (P < 0.01) but not in men (P > 0.05).

Conclusion

Female patients had significantly lower levels of psychiatric symptoms and higher levels of social functioning at 10-year follow-up than male patients. They also reported more outpatient visits, which may have contributed to the gender differences in outcomes. Family members and doctors of patients should urge patients to make regular outpatient visits for better outcomes after hospitalization.

Keywords:

• mental illness
• psychiatry
• health outcomes
• neuropsychiatric

Data Sharing Statement

The data that support the findings of this study are available from the corresponding author, Kai Zhang, upon reasonable request.

Acknowledgments

We thank all of participants who volunteered to participate in the study. Thanks to Chaohu Hospital of Anhui Medical University and corresponding authors for their support. This study was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (81801341), the Anhui Provincial Key R&D Programme (202004j07020030), the China International Medical Exchange Foundation (Z-2018-35-2002). The funding body did not participate in the design, conduct, or writing of the study.

Disclosure

The authors report no conflicts of interest in this work.