Health Support Center, Tokyo Institute of Technology, Yokohama, Japan.
Supporters for Mental Health, Tokyo, Japan.
PLoS One. 2020 Mar 4;15(3):e0229643. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0229643. eCollection 2020.
Due to inadequate human and financial resource support, the development of mental health services in Cambodia has been undertaken by various non-governmental organizations (NGOs). Schizophrenia is the most common functional psychotic disorder, causing severe and chronic symptoms, and the programs provided by the NGOs should have enhanced the quality of life (QoL) of patients and their caregivers; however, epidemiological research, which is a driving force behind the recognition of mental health as a global public health concern, is lacking for schizophrenia in Cambodia. This study therefore aimed to create QoL evaluation questionnaires available in Khmer (the Cambodian language) for patients with schizophrenia and family caregivers, and to identify the social determinants and predictors of their QoL. This cross-sectional study recruited 59 patients and 59 caregivers attending three clinics operated by two NGOs: the Transcultural Psychosocial Organization (TPO) Cambodia and the Supporters for Mental Health (SUMH) Cambodia. We conducted linguistic validation of the Schizophrenia Quality of Life Questionnaire 18-item version (S-QoL 18) and the Schizophrenia Caregiver Questionnaire (SCQ), then analyzed correlations between the QoL dimensions and socio-demographic factors. The main findings of this study were as follows: 1) the newly created Khmer versions of S-QoL 18 and SCQ are relatively good psychometric tools that are suitable for research to identify patients' and caregivers' needs to improve their QoL; and 2) engaging in paid work or being of the post-Khmer Rouge generation results in higher QoL for patients, but having low household economic status or being affected by chronic disease leads to lower QoL for family caregivers. These findings are useful for enabling community mental health professionals and aid organizations to create programs to lessen the patient and caregiver burden in Cambodia. Further research is necessary to develop practical projects that will improve patients' and caregivers' QoL in various clinical settings in Cambodia.
由于人力资源和财政资源不足，柬埔寨的心理健康服务发展一直由各种非政府组织（NGO）承担。精神分裂症是最常见的功能性精神病障碍，导致严重和慢性症状，非政府组织提供的项目本应提高患者及其照顾者的生活质量（QoL）；然而，流行病学研究是认识到心理健康是全球公共卫生关注的一个推动因素，但柬埔寨缺乏对精神分裂症的流行病学研究。因此，本研究旨在为精神分裂症患者和家庭照顾者创建可用高棉语（柬埔寨语）的 QoL 评估问卷，并确定影响他们 QoL 的社会决定因素和预测因素。这项横断面研究招募了 59 名患者和 59 名照顾者，他们在两个非政府组织运营的三个诊所就诊：跨文化心理社会组织（TPO）柬埔寨和支持心理健康（SUMH）柬埔寨。我们对精神分裂症生活质量问卷 18 项版本（S-QoL 18）和精神分裂症照顾者问卷（SCQ）进行了语言验证，然后分析了 QoL 维度与社会人口因素之间的相关性。本研究的主要发现如下：1）新创建的高棉语版本的 S-QoL 18 和 SCQ 是相对较好的心理测量工具，适合研究确定患者和照顾者的需求，以提高他们的 QoL；2）有薪工作或后红色高棉一代的患者生活质量较高，但家庭经济地位较低或患有慢性病的家庭照顾者生活质量较低。这些发现有助于使社区心理健康专业人员和援助组织能够制定减轻柬埔寨患者和照顾者负担的计划。需要进一步研究以制定各种临床环境中提高患者和照顾者 QoL 的实用项目。
