Health-related quality of life and associations on socio-demographic and clinical factors in schizophrenia based on the QLICD-SC scale: A cross-sectional study

Abstract

Abstract Background: Schizophrenia is a long course mental disease which poses heavy burdens to patients and quality of life can reflect treatment effect. But a small number of specificity scales have been developed. By using the scale Quality of Life Instruments for Chronic Diseases-Schizophrenia (V2.0)(QLICD-SC))(V2.0) which is modular and sensitivity integrating Chinese culture, this paper aims at providing evidence for developing countermeasures to improve patients’ quality of life. Methods: 163 people who met the diagnostic criteria for schizophrenia of the International Classification of Diseases(10th Revision)(ICD-10) and were hospitalized at the Affiliated Hospital of Guangdong Medical University from May 2014 to December, 2015 were selected. Paper-based questionnaires were administered to the patients to collect their basic information. Patients' clinical objective indexes, including blood routine, urine routine, blood biochemical examination, blood gas analysis etc. were collected by reviewing the medical records. Statistical description was applied to analyse the distribution of basic characteristics of depressed patients. Simple correlation analysis was used to explore the correlations between domains scores of the QLICD-SC(V2.0) and clinical objective indexes and multiple linear regression was used to further screen for correlates.Results: There were 163 participants, ranging in age from 16 to 69, with a 30.67±11.44 average age. The majority of them were men(57.1%), had a high school diploma(77.9%), and were married (65.6%). Physical function, psychological function, social function, specific module and total scale each had QOL ratings of 61.09, 48.02, 63.21, 33.01 and 49.09, respectively. According to multiple linear regression, the variables included in the model are education, sex, eosinophilic granulocyte, hematocrit, percentage of monocytes, phosphorus (R2=0.065~0.222, P<0.05).Conclusion: Some clinical indicators such as hematocrit and socio-demographic factors may reflect alterations in the quality of life of individuals with schizophrenia.