The relationship between obesity and health-related quality of life in Chinese patients with schizophrenia

Abstract

Objective. Studies have reported that up to 60% of individuals with schizophrenia are overweight or obese. This study explored the relationship between obesity and health-related quality of life (HRQoL) in Chinese patients with schizophrenia. Methods. A total of 1,108 patients with schizophrenia aged 18–50 years were recruited from 10 different sites in China. Demographic and medical information were collected; the Mandarin version of Short Form 36 Health Survey questionnaire (SF-36) was used to assess HRQoL; in addition,height and weight were measured to calculate body mass index (BMI). BMI was categorized into underweight, normal weight, overweight and obese using cutoffs for Asian populations recommended by the World Health Organization. Results. Fifty-six percent of participants with schizophrenia were overweight or obese. A higher BMI was associated with significantly lower scores in physical functioning, role-physical, and physical component summary (p's ≤ 0.010). Obese patients with schizophrenia had significantly lower scores in 3 domains and physical component summary of the SF-36 compared with normal weight patients (p's ≤ 0.007). Conclusion. Obesity is associated with decreased HRQoL in Chinese patients with schizophrenia. Our findings suggest that the prevention and management of weight gain and obesity is important in improving HRQoL in patients who suffer from this devastating mental illness.

Key words::

• Schizophrenia
• quality of life
• body mass index
• obesity
• overweight

Acknowledgements

We are very grateful to Xiaoduo Fan from Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School for assistance in revising our manuscript.

Statement of interest

None of the authors reports conflicts of interest.

This research was supported by the National Key Technologies R&D Program in the 10th 5-year-plan of China (grant No. 2004BA720A22), the National Natural Science Foundation of China (grant No. 30900485); and the National R&D Special Fund for Health Profession (grant No. 201002003).