Correlates of quality of life in an Arab schizophrenia sample

We focused on the subjective quality of life (QOL) indicators of the Lancashire quality of life profile, European version (LQoLP-EU) in a Kuwaiti schizophrenia sample. The objectives were: First, to assess the reliability and validity of the questionnaire. Second, to highlight the patients’ QOL profile, in comparison with the results of the European five-nation study. Third, to examine the association of perceived needs for care, caregiver burden, service satisfaction, self-esteem and psychopathology, with three indices of global QOL: total life satisfaction or perceived QOL (PQOL) score; general wellbeing (GW) and Cantril’s ladder (CL).

Consecutive outpatients in stable condition and their family caregivers were interviewed with the LQoLP, and measures of needs for care, service satisfaction, caregiver burden and psychopathology.

There were 130 patients (66.1%m, mean age 36.8). Majority of the patients (56%) felt satisfied with the nine domains of life investigated, and 44.6% felt “averagely” happy. Their clinical severity was moderate (BPRS-18 = 44.4). In exploratory factor analysis (FA), the original domains were mostly replicated. Reliability indices were significant (>0.7). In stepwise regression analyses, the associations of PQOL were more in number and mostly different from those of GW and CL. The correlates of PQOL included, social unmet need (8.1% of variance), staff perception of unmet need (10.3%), general satisfaction with services (11.3%), burden of caregiver supervision (3.7%), self-esteem (2.9%) and positive symptoms (2.6%). Of the nine life domains, health was the most important correlate of GW and CL, indicating the centrality of health status in judgments of subjective QOL. In secondary FA, GW and CL loaded together, but separately from life domains, implying that these are separable parts of the subjective wellbeing construct.

The profile of QOL scores was mostly similar to European data. The significant multivariate association with patients/staff perceptions of unmet need for care and service satisfaction indicate the usefulness of staff professional development and service improvement in outcome; and imply that promotion of QOL should be an institutional objective. Our finding about the relationship between the three global measures of QOL has added support to the emerging QOL theory.