Disability assessment as an outcome measure: a comparative study of Nigerian outpatients with schizophrenia and healthy control

Abstract

Background and objectiveSchizophrenia is a chronic mental disorder that leads to disability in several aspects of the individual’s personal, social, and occupational functioning. This study assesses and compares the level of disability among Nigerian outpatients with schizophrenia and healthy controls (HC).MethodsA comparative cross-sectional study among 100 schizophrenia outpatients with an ICD-10 diagnosis and 100 HC was conducted over a 4-month period. They completed a questionnaire containing the Zung’s Self-Rating Depression Scale (SDS), the World Health Organization Disability Assessment Schedule-Second Version (WHODAS-II). Symptoms of schizophrenia were assessed with the Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale (PANSS). Student’s t tests and Chi-square were used to compare patient with schizophrenia and healthy control. Pearson correlation and multiple linear regression analyses were used to assess the relationships of socio-demographic and clinical variable with disability.ResultsThe patients with schizophrenia reported greater disability than the HC on most of the disability domains of WHODAS-II. They also reported significantly higher mean Zung’s SDS scores than the HC. Depressive symptoms, negative symptoms, and PANSS total were significantly related to all the WHODAS-II domains. The disability summary score was significantly predicted by depressive symptoms, negative and positive symptoms of schizophrenia, number of active symptoms (relapse) of schizophrenia, and marital status [F (5, 94) = 23.90, p < 0.001].ConclusionSchizophrenia is a disabling disorder that affects different aspects of a patient’s life. Treatment strategies that target these different aspects may help in reducing disability.

The 12-item WHO Disability Assessment Schedule II as an outcome measure for treatment of common mental disorders

“…While the WHODAS has heretofore been used primarily to assess disability associated with physical illnesses, the WHODAS is being increasingly applied to study disability among psychiatric populations in low- and middle-income countries. For example, it has been applied to assess functional impairments associated with mental disorders, understand relationships between mental illness and physical comorbidities, and measure mental health treatment outcomes (Akinsulore et al 2015 , De Silva et al 2015 , Faye et al 2015 ).…”

The Influence of Psychosocial Dysfunctions in Chronic Schizophrenia Patients in Remission: A Hospital-Based Study

“…found out that the patients with chronic schizophrenia reported greater disability in an individual's personal, social, and occupational life. [23] In this study, disability burden in patients with chronic schizophrenia having duration of more than 20 years is much more than schizophrenia patients having duration of 5 years.…”

Comparative assessment of quality of life of patients with schizophrenia attending a community psychiatric centre and a psychiatric hospital

“…Studies looking at the association between clinical variables and QoL have reported a significant association between the number of daily medication, the presence of anxiety/depression symptoms, suicidality, comorbid medical problems and general psychopathology7–9,34,35,36 and medication adherence 9,37. According to Akinsulore et al, the presence of depressive symptoms, negative and positive symptoms of schizophrenia and frequency of relapse also predicts greater disability in patients with schizophrenia 36…”