The EQ-5D and SF-36 achieved mixed results in the quantitative testing against psychometric criteria .
The qualitative analysis suggests this is because they provide a very limited coverage of themes identified by people with mental health problems .
BACKGROUND Generic preference-based measures of health like the EQ-5D and SF-6D ( ® ) are increasingly being used in economic evaluation and outcome assessment .
However , there are concerns as to whether or not these generic measures are appropriate for use in people with mental health problems .
OBJECTIVES The EQ-5D and SF-36 ( ® ) ( including its derivatives the SF-12 ( ® ) and SF-6D ) were assessed using the psychometric criteria of validity and responsiveness using quantitative and qualitative methods .
Another aim was to estimate mapping functions between the EQ-5D and SF-6D and condition-specific measures , where appropriate .
Short-term symptomatic and functional outcomes of schizophrenia in Butajira, Ethiopia
BACKGROUND Prospect i ve outcome studies based on a community sample of mostly neuroleptic naive cases of schizophrenia are uncommon . OBJECTIVES To describe short-term symptomatic and functional outcomes of schizophrenia , and potential predictors of outcome . METHODS After a baseline assessment , 63 incident and 208 prevalent cases of schizophrenia were followed by a yearly clinical assessment for an average of 2.5 ( range 1 - 4 ) years . Scores of negative symptoms and positive symptoms were used as indicators of symptomatic outcomes . SF-36 scores of physical and social functioning , and role limitation due to mental health problems were used as indicators of functional outcomes . Several variables were evaluated as potential predictors of outcome in r and om coefficient models . RESULTS Functioning and other measures of health related quality of life were significantly diminished in cases as compared to the general population of the area at baseline and follow up . Of the socio-demographic and clinical factors evaluated , only lower negative and positive symptom scores were significantly associated with improvements in functioning . The level of functioning observed in cases from Butajira was lower than that reported for cases from developed countries . CONCLUSIONS Our findings are not in accord with other outcome studies that have reported better functional outcome for cases of schizophrenia from developing countries
The EQ-5D and SF-36 achieved mixed results in the quantitative testing against psychometric criteria .
The qualitative analysis suggests this is because they provide a very limited coverage of themes identified by people with mental health problems .
BACKGROUND Generic preference-based measures of health like the EQ-5D and SF-6D ( ® ) are increasingly being used in economic evaluation and outcome assessment .
However , there are concerns as to whether or not these generic measures are appropriate for use in people with mental health problems .
OBJECTIVES The EQ-5D and SF-36 ( ® ) ( including its derivatives the SF-12 ( ® ) and SF-6D ) were assessed using the psychometric criteria of validity and responsiveness using quantitative and qualitative methods .
Another aim was to estimate mapping functions between the EQ-5D and SF-6D and condition-specific measures , where appropriate .