Impact of negative symptoms on health-related quality of life in schizophrenia

Yanhui Li; Gurpreet Rekhi; Mei San Ang; Jimmy Lee

doi:10.3389/fpsyt.2023.1252354

Impact of negative symptoms on health-related quality of life in schizophrenia

Front Psychiatry. 2023 Sep 7:14:1252354. doi: 10.3389/fpsyt.2023.1252354. eCollection 2023.

Authors

Yanhui Li¹, Gurpreet Rekhi², Mei San Ang², Jimmy Lee^{3

4}

Affiliations

¹ East Region, Institute of Mental Health, Singapore, Singapore.
² Research Division, Institute of Mental Health, Singapore, Singapore.
³ North Region and Department of Psychosis, Institute of Mental Health, Singapore, Singapore.
⁴ Lee Kong Chian School of Medicine, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore, Singapore.

Abstract

Evidence regarding the association of Negative Symptoms (NS) dimensions with Health-related Quality of Life (HRQoL) is limited and no prior study has looked into contributions of NS domains on HRQoL. This study bridges the gap by examining the associations of NS, its two dimensions (Motivation and Pleasure, and Emotional Expressivity) and five domains (Anhedonia, Avolition, Asociality, Blunted affect and Alogia) with HRQoL in schizophrenia. 274 individuals with schizophrenia were assessed on the Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale (PANSS) and Brief Negative Symptom Scale (BNSS). PANSS scores were mapped to EuroQol five-dimensional (EQ-5D-5L) utility scores using an algorithm previously validated in Singapore, and the resulting EQ-5D-5L scores were used as a measure of HRQoL. Multiple linear regression analyses of the two NS dimensions and five NS domains against EQ-5D-5L showed that a lower severity of NS, specifically that of the Motivation and Pleasure (MAP) dimension and asociality domain was associated with higher HRQoL. Our findings highlight the importance of targeting NS, particularly MAP and asociality, in improving HRQoL in schizophrenia.

Keywords: asociality; health-related quality of life; motivation and pleasure; negative symptoms; schizophrenia.