Abstract
BackgroundSevere mental illness is strongly associated with an impaired quality of life. This intern can affect the treatment adherence and outcomes of the illness. However, there are insufficient studies in the literature pertaining to the quality of life of patients with severe mental illness in Ethiopia. Therefore, assessing the quality of life of patients with severe mental illness and its correlates is a yardstick measure of the effectiveness of the mental health service.MethodsAn institutional based cross-sectional study was conducted from May 1 to 16, 2019 at Amanuel Mental Specialized Hospital. A systematic random sampling technique was used to get a total number of 387 samples. Data were collected using interview-administered questionnaires; World Health Organization Quality of Life Brief Version, Morisky Medication Adherence Screening Tool, Oslo Social Support Scale, and Jacoby Stigma Scale. Simple and multiple linear regression analysis were used to assess the contributing factors of quality of life in the participants and B coefficient with 95% CI confidence interval was used. The statistical significance was accepted at p value < 0.05.ResultsThe result showed that the Mean quality of life score of patients with severe mental illness for each domain (mean ± SD) was 41.3 ± 7.5, 42.8 ± 8.2, 38.9 ± 8.9, and 41.8 ± 6.5 for physical, psychological, social and environmental, respectively. Multiple regression analysis showed that age of participants was strongly positively correlated with all domains of quality of life. It predicts above 45% of the variability in each domain. Social support is also another strong predictor which was negatively correlated with all domains of quality of life, except physical.ConclusionThis study revealed that the mean score quality of life of patients with severe mental illness in each domain was low. This demonstrates a need for improving the quality of life of people with severe mental illness by integration of a positive mental health approach and bio-psychosocial view with biological treatment of severe mental illness. Moreover, in Collaboration with medical professionals, people with severe mental illness should screen and managed for any comorbid medical conditions.
Highlights
Severe mental illness is strongly associated with an impaired quality of life
Most, (61.0%) of the participants had a diagnosis of schizophrenia and 16% were bipolar disorder
The onset of the illness, duration of the illness, comorbid medical conditions, living alone and stigma were the predictors of a lower mean score quality of life in all or at least one domain of quality of life (Table 4)
Summary
Severe mental illness is strongly associated with an impaired quality of life. This intern can affect the treatment adherence and outcomes of the illness. People with severe mental illness have a diminishing QOL, frequently at levels that are equal to or exceed those of medical illnesses [9]. This significantly affects the treatment adherence, rates of relapse, ability to perform and/or enjoy occupational and social activities, future outlook, medical problems [2] [10,11,12]. Perceived stigma and drug non adherence were negatively affects the quality of life of patient with severe mental illness [13, 14]
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