Hostname: page-component-848d4c4894-p2v8j Total loading time: 0.001 Render date: 2024-06-01T06:09:09.123Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Five-year outcome of clinical recovery and subjective well-being in older Dutch patients with schizophrenia

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  17 August 2021

Paul D. Meesters*
Affiliation:
Department of Research and Education, Friesland Mental Health Services, Leeuwarden, The Netherlands
Sjors M. M. Lange
Affiliation:
Department of Psychiatry, EMGO+ Institute for Health and Care Research, VU University Medical Center, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
Lex Wunderink
Affiliation:
Rob Giel Research Center, Department of Psychiatry, University Medical Center Groningen, Groningen, The Netherlands
Max L. Stek
Affiliation:
Department of Psychiatry, EMGO+ Institute for Health and Care Research, VU University Medical Center, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
Didi Rhebergen
Affiliation:
Department of Psychiatry, EMGO+ Institute for Health and Care Research, VU University Medical Center, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
*
Correspondence should be addressed to: Paul D. Meesters, GGZ Friesland, Sixmastraat 1, 8932 PA Leeuwarden, The Netherlands. Email: pauldavid.meesters@ggzfriesland.nl.

Abstract

Outcome of schizophrenia in later life can be evaluated from different perspectives. The recovery concept has moved forward this evaluation, discerning clinical-based and patient-based definitions. Longitudinal data on measures of recovery in older individuals with schizophrenia are scant. This study evaluated the five-year outcome of clinical recovery and subjective well-being in a sample of 73 older Dutch schizophrenia patients (mean age 65.9 years; SD 5.4), employing a catchment-area based design that included both community living and institutionalized patients regardless of the age of onset of their disorder. At baseline (T1), 5.5% of participants qualified for clinical recovery, while at five-year follow-up (T2), this rate was 12.3% (p = 0.18; exact McNemar’s test). Subjective well-being was reported by 20.5% of participants at T1 and by 27.4% at T2 (p = 0.27; exact McNemar’s test). Concurrence of clinical recovery and subjective well-being was exceptional, being present in only one participant (1.4%) at T1 and in two participants (2.7%) at T2. Clinical recovery and subjective well-being were not correlated neither at T1 (p = 0.82; phi = 0.027) nor at T2 (p = 0.71; phi = −0.044). There was no significant correlation over time between clinical recovery at T1 and subjective well-being at T2 (p = 0.30; phi = 0.122) nor between subjective well-being at T1 and clinical recovery at T2 (p = 0.45; phi = −0.088). These results indicate that while reaching clinical recovery is relatively rare in older individuals with schizophrenia, it is not a prerequisite to experience subjective well-being.

Type
Brief Report
Copyright
© International Psychogeriatric Association 2021

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Auslander, L.A. and Jeste, D.V. (2004). Sustained remission of schizophrenia among community-dwelling older outpatients. American Journal of Psychiatry, 161, 14901493.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Chan, R.C., Mak, W.W., Chio, F.H. and Tong, A.C. (2018). Flourishing with psychosis: a prospective examination on the interactions between clinical, functional, and personal recovery processes on well-being among individuals with schizophrenia spectrum disorders. Schizophrenia Bulletin, 44, 778786.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Cohen, C.I., Meesters, P.D. and Zhao, J. (2015). New perspectives on schizophrenia in later life: implications for treatment, policy, and research. Lancet Psychiatry, 2, 340350.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cohen, C.I. and Reinhardt, M.M. (2020). Recovery and recovering in older adults with schizophrenia: a 5-tier model. American Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry, 28, 872875.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Cohen, C.I. and Ryu, H.H. (2015). A longitudinal study of the outcome and associated factors of subsyndromal and syndromal depression in community-dwelling older adults with schizophrenia spectrum disorder. American Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry, 23, 925933.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Lange, S.M.M., Meesters, P.D., Stek, M.L., Wunderink, L., Penninx, B.W.J.H., and Rhebergen, D. (2019). Course and predictors of symptomatic remission in late-life schizophrenia: a 5-year follow-up study in a Dutch psychiatric catchment area. Schizophrenia Research, 209, 179184.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Meesters, P.D., van der Ham, L., Dominicus, M., Stek, M.L. and Abma, T.A. (2019). Promoting personal and social recovery in older persons with schizophrenia: the case of the New Club, a novel Dutch facility offering social contact and activities. Community Mental Health Journal, 55, 9941003.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Palmer, B.W., Martin, A.S., Depp, C.A., Glorioso, D.K. and Jeste, D.V. (2014). Wellness within illness: happiness in schizophrenia. Schizophrenia Research, 159, 151156.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Priebe, S., et al. (2010). Factors influencing subjective quality of life in patients with schizophrenia and other mental disorders: a pooled analysis. Schizophrenia Research, 121, 251258.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Van Eck, R.M., Burger, T.J., Vellinga, A., Schirmbeck, F. and de Haan, L. (2018). The relationship between clinical and personal recovery in patients with schizophrenia spectrum disorders: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Schizophrenia Bulletin, 44, 631642.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Voruganti, L., Heslegrave, R., Awad, A.G. and Seeman, M.V. (1998). Quality of life measurement in schizophrenia: reconciling the quest for subjectivity with the question of reliability. Psychological Medicine, 28, 165172.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed