Psychiatric symptoms and quality of life in older adults with schizophrenia spectrum disorder: results from a multicenter study

AbstractThe severity of psychopathology has a strong negative impact on quality of life (QoL) among older adults with schizophrenia spectrum disorder. However, because these subjects generally experience multiple psychiatric symptoms, it remains unclear whether decreased QoL in this population is due to specific symptoms (e.g., hallucinations), specific dimensions of psychopathology (e.g., negative symptoms), a general psychopathology dimension representing the shared effect across all psychiatric symptoms, or a combination of these explanations. Data were derived from the Cohort of individuals with Schizophrenia Aged 55  years or more (CSA) study, a large (N = 353) multicenter sample of older adults with schizophrenia spectrum disorder recruited from French public-sector psychiatric departments. We used structural equation modeling to examine the shared and specific effects of psychiatric symptoms on QoL, while adjusting for sociodemographic charac teristics, general medical conditions, global cognitive functioning and psychotropic medications. Psychiatric symptoms and QoL were assessed face-to-face by psychiatrists using the Brief Psychiatric Rating Scale (BPRS) and the Quality of Life Scale (QLS). Among older adults with schizophrenia spectr um disorder, effects of psychiatric symptoms on QoL were exerted mostly through a general psychopathology dimension (β = − 0.43,p <  0.01). Negative symptom dimension had an additional negative effect on QoL beyond...
Source: European Archives of Psychiatry and Clinical Neuroscience - Category: Neuroscience Source Type: research