Subjective health-related quality of life in community-dwelling middle-aged and older adults with early-onset schizophrenia

Abstract

Background: Long-term outcome in schizophrenia remains unsatisfactory due to continued premature deaths and insufficient health treatment. Subjective quality of life (SQoL) measurements hold important information and have meaningful implications regarding ways of improving general health status. This study investigated the physical and mental SQoL and associated clinical and sociodemographic outcomes among community-dwelling middle-aged and older people with early-onset schizophrenia.

Materials and methods: A cross-sectional interview study where participants residing in the Region of Southern Denmark were identified through The Danish Psychiatric Central Register. Of a total of 278 eligible individuals, 59 people aged 55–82 years old participated. The SQoL measure Medical Outcomes Short Form 36 version 2 (SF36) was used. Scores were compared by age groups with normative data for the Danish population. Associated outcomes were measured using Positive And Negative Symptom Scale Remission and others.

Results: Increased mental SQoL was associated with schizophrenia in remission (adjusted B 9.43, p = .001), increased Mental Health Recovery Measure score (adjusted B 0.55, p < .001) and increased GAF score (adjusted B 0.32, p < .001). Comparing with Danish Normative data, mental SQoL was reduced (p = .001) among 55–64-year olds, but presented levels similar to the general population at ages over 65 years. Physical quality of life was similar to the general population.

Conclusion: Over 65-year olds with schizophrenia seemed to have SQoL similar to their age peers in the general population. Aiming treatment at achieving state of remission or recovery would be an amenable measure toward increasing mental SQoL among middle-aged people with schizophrenia.

Keywords:

• Schizophrenia
• quality of life
• older age

Acknowledgements

Great acknowledgement is owned to Bent Nielsen, MD, PhD, for his invaluable input and initiation of the project, and to Anders Bo Bojesen, MSc, and Pia Veldt Larsen, BSc PhD, for statistical support.

Ethical approval

The study has been registered with the Danish National Committee on Biomedical Research Ethics and the Danish Data Protection Agency and is judged to be in compliance with the Declaration of Helsinki.

Disclosure statement

No conflict of interest declared by the authors.

Additional information

Funding

The project was funded by the Psychiatric Research Foundation in Southern Denmark, the Region of Southern Denmark’s PhD Fund, a Faculty Grant from the University of Southern Denmark, the Danish Mental Health Foundation (Psykiatrifonden), the Danish Health Foundation (Helsefonden), the non-profit foundation Trygfonden, the Memorial Foundation of Jeppe Juhl and wife Ovita Juhl and the Memorial Foundation of Butcher Wørzner and wife Inger Wørzner.

Notes on contributors

Maria Brink

Maria Brink, MD, PhD, is senior consultant at the geriatric psychiatric ward, Odense, as well as at the dementia clinic in Odense/Svendborg, Region of Southern Denmark. Research areas of interest are old age psychiatry and dementias.

Kjeld Andersen

Kjeld Andersen, MD, PhD, professor in clinical psychiatry at Department of Clinical Research, University of Southern Denmark and senior consultant at the geriatric psychiatric team at the Department of Mental Health - Odense, Region of Southern Denmark. Research areas are focused on geriatric psychiatric patients, including schizophrenia, dementias and alcohol use disorders.