Research Division, Institute of Mental Health, 10 Buangkok View, Singapore, 539747, Singapore.
BMC Psychiatry. 2021 Jan 28;21(1):61. doi: 10.1186/s12888-021-03051-2.
Patients with mental illness report lower quality of life (QoL) compared to the general population. Prior research has found several differences in clinical features and experiences of male and female patients with schizophrenia. Given these differences, it is also important to explore if there are any gender differences in terms of their QoL. This study aimed to investigate differences in QoL between and within each gender among outpatients with schizophrenia in Singapore.
A total of 140 outpatients were recruited through convenience sampling at the Institute of Mental Health, Singapore. QoL was measured using the brief version of World Health Organization Quality of Life (WHOQOL-BREF) which consists of four domains: physical health, psychological health, social relationships, and environment. QoL scores of males and females were compared using independent t-tests, and multiple linear regressions were used to examine sociodemographic correlates of QoL in the overall sample and within each gender.
There was no significant difference in QoL domain scores between genders. Among males, Indian ethnicity (versus Chinese ethnicity) was positively associated with physical health (β=3.03, p=0.018) while males having Technical Education/ Diploma/ A level education (versus Degree and above) were positively associated with social relationships domain (β=2.46, p=0.047). Among females, Malay ethnicity (versus Chinese ethnicity) was positively associated with physical health (β=1.95, p=0.026) psychological health (β=3.21, p=0.001) social relationships (β=2.17, p=0.048) and environment (β=2.69, p=0.006) domains, while females who were separated/divorced (versus single) were inversely associated with psychological health (β=- 2.80, p=0.044) and social relationships domains (β=- 4.33, p=0.011). Females who had Secondary and below education (versus Degree and above) were inversely associated with social relationships (β=- 2.29, p=0.028) and environment domains (β=- 1.79, p=0.048).
The findings show the importance of treatments targeting QoL to attend to both the clinical features of the illness as well patient's sociodemographic characteristics.
与一般人群相比，精神疾病患者的生活质量（QoL）较低。先前的研究发现，男性和女性精神分裂症患者的临床特征和体验存在多种差异。鉴于这些差异，也有必要探讨他们的生活质量是否存在性别差异。本研究旨在调查新加坡精神分裂症门诊患者中男女之间和每个性别内部的生活质量差异。
通过便利抽样，共在新加坡心理卫生研究所招募了 140 名门诊患者。使用世界卫生组织生活质量（WHOQOL-BREF）简短版测量生活质量，该量表包括四个领域：身体健康、心理健康、社会关系和环境。使用独立 t 检验比较男性和女性的生活质量得分，并使用多元线性回归分析在总体样本和每个性别内检查生活质量的社会人口学相关性。
性别之间的生活质量领域得分没有显著差异。在男性中，与华族（Chinese ethnicity）相比，印度族（Indian ethnicity）与身体健康呈正相关（β=3.03，p=0.018），而具有技术教育/文凭/A 级教育（Technical Education/ Diploma/ A level education）的男性与社会关系领域呈正相关（β=2.46，p=0.047）。在女性中，与华族（Chinese ethnicity）相比，马来族（Malay ethnicity）与身体健康（β=1.95，p=0.026）、心理健康（β=3.21，p=0.001）、社会关系（β=2.17，p=0.048）和环境（β=2.69，p=0.006）领域呈正相关，而与单身（single）相比，离婚/分居（separated/divorced）的女性与心理健康（β=-2.80，p=0.044）和社会关系领域（β=-4.33，p=0.011）呈负相关。与具有高等教育（Degree and above）的女性相比，具有中学及以下教育（Secondary and below education）的女性与社会关系（β=-2.29，p=0.028）和环境领域（β=-1.79，p=0.048）呈负相关。
研究结果表明，针对生活质量的治疗方法的重要性在于既要针对疾病的临床特征，也要针对患者的社会人口学特征。
