Quality of life in Patients with Schizophrenia-spectrum Disorder: A longitudinal study with 10 years of follow-up

Background: Quality of life (QoL) in patients with Schizophrenia has become one of the most important outcome measures in long-term treatment; however, in the Latin American context, longitudinal research that analyzes its trajectories over time and its relationship with clinical and sociodemographic aspects is still scarce. The aim of this study was to longitudinally evaluate QoL in conjunction with psychotic symptomatology, internalised stigma, social cognition, premorbid adjustment, and years of untreated psychosis in a sample of patients with a diagnosis of Schizophrenia in Northern Chile. Method: A total of 26 patients were able to complete the 10-year follow-up of measures and predictors of stigma, which were evaluated in Public Outpatient Mental Health Centres in the city of Arica between March–July 2012 and March–July 2022. The results show that QoL trajectories improve over time, especially in aspects such as family relationships, autonomy and resilience. On the other hand, depressive symptoms, self-stigma and premorbid adjustment were significant predictors of follow-up measures of QoL. Discussion: These results underscore the importance of overcoming stigma and depressive symptomatology to improve the QoL of patients with Schizophrenia. Also, the results yielded that premorbid successful psychosocial functioning and experiences are a significant predictor of QoL.