David Baxter PhD
Late Founder
Schizophrenia remission improves functioning and life satisfaction
By Liam Davenport
14 November 2008
Schizophr Res 2008
Symptomatic remission of first-episode schizophrenia is associated with improved functioning and life satisfaction, say Swedish scientists in findings that underline the impact of core schizophrenia symptoms.
Operational criteria for remission in schizophrenia have been proposed in the USA and Europe in which eight core symptoms were chosen to reflect the five diagnostic criteria of schizophrenia in the DSM-IV. However, it is not clear how these relate to broader functional outcome in first-episode patients.
Robert Bod?n, from Uppsala University Hospital, and colleagues therefore studied 76 first-episode schizophrenia patients at 5-year follow-up after diagnosis, administering a series of assessments and determining those who met the remission criteria.
Good function was defined as living independently, being in competitive work or studying for at least 50% of the past year, and meeting friends at least once a month. In addition, the patients completed three domains of the Subjective Satisfaction With Life scale.
In all, 40 patients were identified as remitters. There were no significantly differences in clinical or sociodemographic variables between remitters and non-remitters, although non-remitters had a trend towards a longer duration of untreated psychosis (DUP), at a median of 22 weeks versus 9 weeks.
Remitters were significantly more likely to have good functional outcome than non-remitters, at 73% versus 17%, with work or studying and meeting friends significantly associated with remission, at odds ratios of 7.9 and 10.7, respectively, as was independent living, at an odds ratio of 7.8.
Patients in remission also had significantly higher subjective satisfaction with life scores than non-remitters on all three domains, the team notes in the journal Schizophrenia Research.
Remission was a significant predictor for good function, at an odds ratio of 13.2. DUP of 3 months or less also predicted good function, at an odds ratio of 4.6. The ability of remission to discriminate between good function and poor function was acceptable, at a C-statistic of 0.78, which rose to 0.83 when DUP was added into the model.
Noting the effects of remission on functioning and life satisfaction, the team concludes: ?Aiming at symptomatic remission as an intermediate treatment goal could be feasible to help patients with first-episode schizophrenia to regain these important areas of life.?
Abstract
By Liam Davenport
14 November 2008
Schizophr Res 2008
Symptomatic remission of first-episode schizophrenia is associated with improved functioning and life satisfaction, say Swedish scientists in findings that underline the impact of core schizophrenia symptoms.
Operational criteria for remission in schizophrenia have been proposed in the USA and Europe in which eight core symptoms were chosen to reflect the five diagnostic criteria of schizophrenia in the DSM-IV. However, it is not clear how these relate to broader functional outcome in first-episode patients.
Robert Bod?n, from Uppsala University Hospital, and colleagues therefore studied 76 first-episode schizophrenia patients at 5-year follow-up after diagnosis, administering a series of assessments and determining those who met the remission criteria.
Good function was defined as living independently, being in competitive work or studying for at least 50% of the past year, and meeting friends at least once a month. In addition, the patients completed three domains of the Subjective Satisfaction With Life scale.
In all, 40 patients were identified as remitters. There were no significantly differences in clinical or sociodemographic variables between remitters and non-remitters, although non-remitters had a trend towards a longer duration of untreated psychosis (DUP), at a median of 22 weeks versus 9 weeks.
Remitters were significantly more likely to have good functional outcome than non-remitters, at 73% versus 17%, with work or studying and meeting friends significantly associated with remission, at odds ratios of 7.9 and 10.7, respectively, as was independent living, at an odds ratio of 7.8.
Patients in remission also had significantly higher subjective satisfaction with life scores than non-remitters on all three domains, the team notes in the journal Schizophrenia Research.
Remission was a significant predictor for good function, at an odds ratio of 13.2. DUP of 3 months or less also predicted good function, at an odds ratio of 4.6. The ability of remission to discriminate between good function and poor function was acceptable, at a C-statistic of 0.78, which rose to 0.83 when DUP was added into the model.
Noting the effects of remission on functioning and life satisfaction, the team concludes: ?Aiming at symptomatic remission as an intermediate treatment goal could be feasible to help patients with first-episode schizophrenia to regain these important areas of life.?
Abstract
