Predictors of subjective quality of life in schizophrenic patients living in the community. A Nordic multicentre study

As part of a Nordic multi-centre study investigating the life and care situ ation of community samples of schizophrenic patients the aim of the present part of the study was to examine the relationship between global subjectiv e quality of life and objective life conditions, clinical characteristics i ncluding psychopathology and number of needs for care, subjective factors s uch as satisfaction with different life domains, social network, and self-e steem. A sample of 418 persons with schizophrenia from 10 sites was used. T he results of a final multiple regression analysis, explaining 52.3% of the variance, showed that five subjective factors were significantly associate d with global subjective quality of life, together with one objective indic ator, to have a close friend. No clinical characteristics were associated w ith global subjective quality of life. The largest part of the variance was explained by satisfaction with health, 36.3% of the variance, and serf-est eem, 7.3% of the variance. It is concluded that the actual relationship bet ween objective life conditions and subjectively experienced quality of life still remains unclear. Furthermore, it seems obvious that personality rela ted factors such as self-esteem, mastery and sense of autonomy also play a role in the appraisal of subjective quality of life, which implies that fac tors like these are important to consider in clinical and social interventi ons for patients with schizophrenia in order to improve quality of life for these persons.