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The interrelation of needs and quality of life in first-episode schizophrenia

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Abstract

The interrelation between needs for care and quality of life has been described and replicated by several studies. The present work aims to add to the understanding of longitudinal interrelations between needs for care, quality of life, and other outcome measures by analyzing a sample of patients at the onset of schizophrenia. This study relied on data from the EUFEST trial, designed to compare first- and second-generation antipsychotics during 1 year. At baseline, 498 patients have been included. The first (baseline) and the last assessment (12 months after baseline) were used for the analyses. Predictors of quality of life were determined using regression analyses. We tested the complex longitudinal interrelations between baseline and outcome measures with structural equation models. Unmet needs were not definitively confirmed as a predictor of subsequent quality of life, unless unmet needs changing to no needs were separated from unmet needs changing to met needs. Each unmet need that changed to no need enhanced the quality of life (mean score 1–7) by 0.136 scale points. This study suggests that when studying quality of life and needs for treatment, it is crucial to differentiate whether unmet needs disappeared or whether they were met, as the former has a stronger impact on quality of life.

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Acknowledgments

The analyses presented in this paper were done without funding. The EUFEST trial was funded by the European Group for Research in Schizophrenia (EGRIS) with grants from AstraZeneca, Pfizer, and Sanofi-Aventis. We thank all the patients who took part in the study.

Conflict of interest

RSK has received grants, honoraria for education programmes, or served as consultant for Astellas, AstraZeneca, BMS, Eli Lilly, Janssen-Cilag, Pfizer, Roche, and Sanofi-Aventis. WWF has received research grants from BMS/Otsuka, Eli Lilly, Janssen-Cilag, and Servier; honoraria for educational programmes from AstraZeneca and Pfizer; speaking fees from AstraZeneca, BMS/Otsuka, Janssen-Cilag, and Pfizer; and advisory board honoraria from AstraZeneca, BMS/Otsuka, Janssen-Cilag, Servier, and Wyeth. SG received fees for educational programmes or advisory boards from AstraZeneca, Innova-Pharma, Bristol-Myers Squibb and Janssen-Cilag. JL is a faculty member of Lundbeck Institute (Lundbeck Neuroscience Foundation) and received speaker’s fees, travel grants, or consultancy fees from Eli Lilly, Bristol-Myers Squibb, Lundbeck, and Servier. WR received speaker’s honoraria and served as a consultant for Elli Lilly, Janssen-Cilag, AstraZeneca, and BMS. TB, DN, EMD, VAG, and KL declare that they have no conflict of interest.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of General and Social Psychiatry, Zurich University Psychiatric Hospital, University of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland

    Karin Landolt, Wulf Rössler & Vladeta Ajdacic-Gross

  2. Collegium Helveticum, Institute for Transdisciplinary Research, Swiss Federal Institute of Technology and University of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland

    Wulf Rössler

  3. Department of Psychiatry, Warneford Hospital, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK

    Tom Burns

  4. Department of Psychiatry, University of Naples SUN, Naples, Italy

    Silvana Galderisi

  5. Psychiatric Clinic, Faculty Hospital Hradec Králové, Charles University Medical School, Hradec Králové, Czech Republic

    Jan Libiger

  6. Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf, Hamburg, Germany

    Dieter Naber

  7. Rudolf Magnus Institute of Neuroscience, Department of Psychiatry, University Medical Center, Utrecht, The Netherlands

    Eske M. Derks & René S. Kahn

  8. Biological Psychiatry Division, Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Medical University Innsbruck, Innsbruck, Austria

    W. Wolfgang Fleischhacker

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  1. Karin Landolt
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  2. Wulf Rössler
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  9. René S. Kahn
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  10. W. Wolfgang Fleischhacker
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Karin Landolt.

Additional information

This study is conducted for the EUFEST study group. All authors are listed in Appendix.

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Supplementary material 1 (DOC 104 kb)

Appendix

Appendix

Steering Committee: R S Kahn, Utrecht, The Netherlands; W W Fleischhacker, Innsbruck, Austria; H Boter, Utrecht, The Netherlands; I P M Keet, Amsterdam, The Netherlands; C Brugman, Utrecht, The Netherlands; M Davidson, Tel Hashomer, Israel; S Dollfus, Caen, France; W Gaebel, Düsseldorf, Germany; S Galderisi, Naples, Italy; M Gheorghe, Bucharest, Romania; I Gonen, Bucharest, Romania; D E Grobbee, Utrecht, The Netherlands; L G Hranov, Sofia, Bulgaria; M Hummer, Innsbruck, Austria; J Libiger, Hradec Králové, Czech Republic; N Lindefors, Stockholm, Sweden; J J López-Ibor, Madrid, Spain; K Nijssen, Utrecht, The Netherlands; J Peuskens, Leuven, Belgium; A Riecher-Rössler, Basel, Switzerland; J K Rybakowski, Poznan, Poland; G Sedvall, Stockholm, Sweden; M v Wilmsdorff, Düsseldorf, Germany.

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Landolt, K., Rössler, W., Burns, T. et al. The interrelation of needs and quality of life in first-episode schizophrenia. Eur Arch Psychiatry Clin Neurosci 262, 207–216 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00406-011-0275-6

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00406-011-0275-6

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