Clinical trial NCT02246283: Schizophrenia for "Life" - a Registry and Interview Study Among Elderly With Lifelong Schizophrenia
Official title: Schizophrenia for "Life" - a Registry and Interview Study Among Elderly With Lifelong Schizophrenia
Study type: OBSERVATIONAL
Overall status: COMPLETED
Conditions: Schizophrenia
Keywords: schizophrenia
elderly
lifelong
quality of life
register
questionaire
Lead sponsor: University of Southern Denmark
Sponsor class: OTHER
Collaborators: name: The Psychiatric Research Foundation in Southern Denmark
name: Region of Southern Denmark
name: University of Southern Denmark
name: The Danish Mental Health Foundation
name: The Danish Health Foundation (Helsefonden)
name: The non-profit foundation Trygfonden.
name: Odense Patient Data Explorative Network
name: Jeppe Juhl and Ovita Juhls Memorial Grant
name: Butcher Max Wørzner and wife Inger Wørzner's Memorial Grant
First posted: 2014-09-22
Enrollment: 10404
Sex: ALL
Minimum age (years): 55
Maximum age (years): 95
Standard ages: ADULT
OLDER_ADULT
Accepts healthy volunteers: no
Observational model: COHORT
Time perspective: RETROSPECTIVE
Sampling method: NON_PROBABILITY_SAMPLE
Study population: Registry study: A nationwide register cohort study (1970-79) identifying psychiatric admissions (aged 18-40), who were registered with a schizophrenia diagnosis. Several Danish registers are applied.

Interview study: A cross-sectional survey where 150 randomly drawn surviving members of the register cohort resident in the Region of Southern Denmark will be interviewed on the basis of internationally validated assessment tools.

Brief summary: The elderly demographic is on the rise - and this includes elderly living with schizophrenia. Yet very little is known about their lives, how they cope with their condition and how it develops over time.

Research in this patient-group is sparse; overall there seem to be a tendency for elderly patients to manifest fewer psychotic symptoms and experiencing an increase in the psychological quality of life with older age. Opinions are divided on the degree and extent to which this tendency reflects remission and/or recovery in older patients.

In order to identify factors associated with a positive outcome we:

* Investigate the course and the outcomes of the illness over the lifespan, as well as the life course and outcomes.
* Investigate the current status of mental and physical health, quality of life as well as functional competence of elderly (55+ yr) with schizophrenia.

Also the investigators

- Compare the trajectory and prognosis of schizophrenia (a chronic mental illness) with type 1 diabetes (a chronic somatic illness).

This study will yield vital insights into how schizophrenia develops over time, isolating factors that determine how well patients fare. The perspective is to advance knowledge of elderly with schizophrenia with a view to optimizing and increasing the effectiveness of the interventions offered to this group.


Eligibility criteria: Inclusion Criteria:

Initial schizophrenia diagnosis between the ages 18-40 (both incl) in the period 1970-1979 (both incl) Interview study: Residence in Region of Southern Denmark

Exclusion Criteria:

Interview study: Mental retardation

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Primary outcomes:
measure: Ageing with schizophrenia
timeFrame: up to 45 years
Secondary outcomes:
measure: Quality of life
timeFrame: 1 month
measure: Remission
timeFrame: 6 months
Other outcomes:
Locations:
city: Odense C
country: Denmark
facility: Research Unit of Psychiatry, Psychiatric Unit Odense - University function
Study officials:
affiliation: University of Southern Denmark
name: Maria Brink, MD
role: PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR
References: