ABSTRACT
UNLABELLED: To date, few studies have reported analytical data relating to clinical remission, functional remission and subjective experience. The present study aimed to investigate these aspects in a sample of chronic outpatients. METHODS: 112 schizophrenic or schizoaffective outpatients (Males=60; Females=52; mean age 43.5 ± 9.42 yr) were evaluated with regard to symptomatology (SCID-I; PANSS, CGI-SCH scales), functioning (PSP scale), subjective wellbeing (SWN-K scale) and Quality of Life (WHO-QoL-Bref scale). RESULTS: 50% of patients were found to be in remission. Significantly higher scores at PANNS, CGI-SCH, PSP, but not at SWN and WHO-QoL, were found among remitted patients; a relevant proportion of remitted subjects continued to manifest a moderate level of symptoms (score >3) both at PANSS (35% of cases) and CGI-SCH (29% of cases), significant functional impairment (total score <70) at PSP (68% of cases ), and a lesser degree of wellbeing (total score <80) at SWN-K (34% of cases). CONCLUSION: patients in whom clinical remission was confirmed may display persisting symptoms, relevant areas of functional impairment and a decreased sense of wellbeing.
