Quality of life in schizophrenia in India: comparison of three approaches

Objective: To compare ratings of quality of life in patients with established schizophrenia in Chandigarh, India, in both subjective and objective view points and between patients' and relatives' ratings. Method: Subjective and objective quality of life was assessed in 38 patients with schizophrenia using the Quality of Life Interview - Brief Version and WHO Quality of Life - Bref scale. Key family members were also interviewed using the same scales. Results: Subjective and objective quality of life are moderately well correlated (r=0.43) and similar agreement was found between patients and relatives (r=0.46). Conclusion: Although quality of life is characteristically measured with subjects, the use of objective measures of quality of life and key informants of patients provide useful proxy measures.