[Social network and quality of life of people suffering from schizophrenia in seven years from first hospitalisation].

AIM

The aim of the research was the analysis of a "social network" of people suffering from schizophrenia in seven years after first admission and analysis of relationships between "social networks" of people suffering from schizophrenia and treatment outcomes, the "quality of life" in particular.

METHOD

Sixty-four patients have been diagnosed according to DSM-III seven years after first admission. In this group were 34 men (55.7%) and 27 women (44.3%) and the average age was 32 years. Lechman's Life Quality Questionnaire and Bizoń's Questionnaire of Social Support were used in the study.

RESULTS

In the Cracovian longitudinal study, persons with a larger network and with a high level of social support display better general subjective satisfaction from quality of life. These results are confirmed in the research of Lehman and his co-workers, Corrigan and Buican. The lack of connection between social network parameters and actual health condition as an objective indicator of the quality of life is incompatible with the results of some investigators, who claim, that as time flies, the impoverishment of the support system is especially threatening to health and mental disorders can appear.

CONCLUSION

Research upon relationships between "social network" and quality of life of persons suffering from schizophrenia haven't been widely described in professional literature so far, moreover, the obtained results are ambiguous and still raise many doubts.