Skip to main content

Advertisement

SpringerLink
Log in

Religion involvement and quality of life in patients with schizophrenia in Latin America

  • Original Paper
  • Published:
Social Psychiatry and Psychiatric Epidemiology Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Objective

The aim of the study was to explore the relationship between religion involvement (RI) and quality of life (QoL) in patients with schizophrenia from three countries in Latin America, while considering key confounding factors such as socio-demographic and clinical characteristics.

Methods

This cross-sectional study was conducted in the public mental health services in La Paz, Bolivia; Arica, Chile; and Tacna, Peru. The data collected included RI, socio-demographic information, clinical characteristics, type of treatment and QoL using the S-QoL 18 questionnaire. A multivariate analysis using multiple linear regressions was performed to determine variables associated with QoL levels.

Results

Two hundred and fifty-three patients with schizophrenia were enrolled in our study. Significant positive associations were found between RI and QoL (the S-QoL 18 index: β = 0.13; p = 0.048; autonomy dimension: β = 0.15; p = 0.027). Other socio-cultural and economic factors were also associated with low QoL level: being a woman, older patient, low education level and being Aymara. Severity of the psychotic symptoms was associated to a lower QoL for all the dimension (β from 0.15 to 0.31), except for the resilience.

Conclusion

Our study found that socio-cultural and economic factors including RI were associated with QoL in patients with schizophrenia in Latin America, suggesting that these factors may influence positively health outcome. However, these relationships were moderate in strength, especially in comparison to symptoms severity which remained the most important features associated with QoL.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  1. Cohen CI, Jimenez C, Mittal S (2010) The role of religion in the well-being of older adults with schizophrenia. Psychiatr Serv 61:917–922

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  2. Williams D, Sternthal M (2007) Spirituality, religion and health: evidence and research directions. Med J Aust 186(10):S47–S50

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  3. Koenig HG (2009) Research on religion, spirituality, and mental health: a review. Can J Psychiatry 54:283–291

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  4. Puchalski CM (2005) Spirituality and end-of-life care: a time for listening and caring. J Palliat Med 5:289–294

    Article  Google Scholar 

  5. Sperry L (2001) Spirituality in clinical practice: Incorporating the spiritual dimension in psychotherapy and counseling. Sheridan Books, Ann Arbor

    Google Scholar 

  6. Moreira-Almeida A, Koenig HG, Lucchetti G (2014) Clinical implications of spirituality to mental health: review of evidence and practical guidelines. Rev Bras Psiquiatr 36(2):176–182

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  7. Mohr S, Huguelet P (2004) The relationship between schizophrenia and religion and its implications for care. Swiss Med Wkly 134:369–376

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  8. Mohr S, Perroud N, Gillieron C, Brandt PY, Rieben I, Borras L et al (2011) Spirituality and religiousness as predictive factors of outcome in schizophrenia and schizo-affective disorders. Psychiatry Res 186:177–182

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  9. Thara R, Eaton WW (1996) Outcome of schizophrenia: the MADRAS longitudinal study. Aust N Z J Psychiatry 30:516–522

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  10. Doering S, Muller E, Kopcke W et al (1998) Predictors of relapse and rehospitalisation in schizophrenia and schizoaffective disorder. Schizophr Bull 24:87–98

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  11. Siddle R, Haddock G, Tarrier N, Faragher EB (2002) Religious delusions in patients admitted to hospital with schizophrenia. Soc Psychiatry Psychiatr Epidemiol 37:130–138

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  12. Moss Q, Fleck DE, Strakowski SM (2006) The influence of religious affiliation on time to first treatment and hospitalization. Schizophr Res 84:421–426

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  13. Kelly G, Maimon J, Scott J (1987) Utility of the health belief model in examining medication compliance among psychiatric outpatients. Soc Sci Med 25:1205–1211

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  14. Gaite L, Vázquez-Barquero JL, Borra C, Ballesteros J, Schene A, Welcher B et al (2002) Quality of life in patients with schizophrenia in five European countries: the EPSILON study. Acta Psychiatr Scand 105:283–292

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  15. Murray-Swank A, Goldberg R, Dickerson F, Medoff D, Wohlheiter K, Dixon L (2007) Correlates of religious service attendance and contact with religious leaders among persons with co-occurring serious mental illness and type 2 diabetes. J Nerv Ment Dis 195:382–388

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  16. Shah R, Kulhara P, Grover S, Kumar S, Malhotra R, Tyagi S (2011) Contribution of spirituality to quality of life in patients with residual schizophrenia. Psychiatry Res 190(2–3):200–205

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  17. Young KW (2010) Spirituality and quality of life for Chinese people with severe mental illness. J Relig Spiritual Soc Work Soc Thought 29:1–13

    Article  Google Scholar 

  18. Mohr S, Borras L, Nolan J, Gillieron C, Brandt PY, Eytan A et al (2012) Spirituality and religion in outpatients with schizophrenia: a multi-site comparative study of Switzerland, Canada, and the United States. Int J Psychiatry Med 44:29–52

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  19. Mohr S, Brandt PY, Borras L, Gilliéron C, Huguelet P (2006) Toward an integration of spirituality and religiousness into the psychosocial dimension of schizophrenia. Am J Psychiatry 163:1952–1959

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  20. Huguelet P, Mohr S, Jung V, Gillieron C, Brandt PY, Borras L (2007) Effect of religion on suicide attempts in outpatients with schizophrenia or schizo-affective disorders compared with inpatients with non-psychotic disorders. Eur Psychiatry 22:188–194

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  21. Huguelet P, Borras L, Gillieron C, Brandt PY, Mohr S (2009) Influence of spirituality and religiousness on substance misuse in patients with schizophrenia or schizo-affective disorder. Subst Use Misuse 44:502–513

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  22. Toussaint L, Wilson C, Wilson L, Williams D (2015) Religiousness and suicide in a nationally representative sample of Trinidad and Tobago adolescents and young adults. Soc Psychiatry Psychiatr Epidemiol 50(9):1441–1450

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  23. Pawliková L (1997) The traditional and present role of the church in Latin-America. Hum Aff 7(2):184–193

    Google Scholar 

  24. Organización Mundial de la Salud (2013) Estadísticas sanitarias mundiales 2013 [2013 World Health Statistics]. http://www.who.int/gho/publications/world_health_statistics/2013/es/. Accessed 1 Apr 2014

  25. Organización Panamericana de la Salud (2013) WHO-AIMS: Informe Regional sobre los sistemas de salud mental en América Latina y el Caribe [Regional report on systems of mental health in Latin America and the Caribbean]. Oficina Sanitaria Panamericana, Oficina Regional de la Organización Mundial de la Salud. http://mhpss.net/wpcontent/uploads/group-documents/226/1392656131-WHOAIMS_Sistemasaludmental_2013.pdf. Accessed 1 Apr 2014

  26. Caqueo-Urízar A, Breslau J, Gilman S (2015) Beliefs about the causes of schizophrenia among Aymara and non-Aymara patients and their primary caregivers in the Central-Southern Andes. Int J Soc Psychiatry 61(1):82–91

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  27. World Health Organization (1992) ICD-10 classifications of mental and behavioural disorder: clinical descriptions and diagnostic guidelines. World Health Organization, Geneva

    Google Scholar 

  28. Boyer L, Simeoni MC, Loundou A, D’Amato T, Reine G, Lancon C et al (2010) The development of the S-QoL 18: a shortened quality of life questionnaire for patients with schizophrenia. Schizophr Res 121(1–3):241–250. doi:10.1016/j.schres.2010.05.019

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  29. Auquier P, Tinland A, Fortanier C, Loundou A, Baumstarck K, Lancon C et al (2013) Toward meeting the needs of homeless people with schizophrenia: the validity of quality of life measurement. PLoS One 8(10):e79677. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0079677

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  30. Baumstarck K, Boucekine M, Klemina I, Reuter F, Aghababian V, Loundou A et al (2013) What is the relevance of quality of life assessment for patients with attention impairment? Health Qual Life Out 11:70. doi:10.1186/1477-7525-11-70

    Article  Google Scholar 

  31. Boyer L, Lancon C, Baumstarck K, Parola N, Berbis J, Auquier P (2013) Evaluating the impact of a quality of life assessment with feedback to clinicians in patients with schizophrenia: randomised controlled trial. Br J Psychiatry 202:447–453. doi:10.1192/bjp.bp.112.123463

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  32. Caqueo-Urízar A, Boyer L, Boucekine M, Auquier P (2014) Spanish cross-cultural adaptation and psychometric properties of the Schizophrenia Quality of Life short-version questionnaire (SQoL18) in 3 middle-income countries: bolivia, Chile and Peru. Schizophr Res 159(1):136–143

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  33. Köster G (1992) Los Aymaras: Características demográficas de un grupo étnico indígena antiguo en los Andes centrales. In: Van den Berg H, Schiffers N (eds) The Aymara: demographic characteristics of an ancient indigenous ethnic group in the Central Andes. La cosmovisión Aymara. UCB/Hisbol, La Paz, pp 81–111

  34. Van Kessel J (1996) La cosmovisión Aymara. In: Hidalgo J, Schiappacasse F, Niemeyer F, Aldunate C, Mege P (eds) Etnografía: Sociedades indígenas contemporáneas y su ideología [Ethnography: Contemporary indigenous societies and their ideology]. Editorial Andrés Bello, Santiago, pp 169–187

    Google Scholar 

  35. Núñez R, Cornejo C (2012) Facing the sunrise: cultural worldview underlying intrinsic-based encoding of absolute frames of reference in Aymara. Cognitive Sci 36:965–991

    Article  Google Scholar 

  36. Gundermann H (2000) Las organizaciones étnicas y el discurso de la identidad en el norte de Chile, 1980–2000 [Ethnic organizations and the discourse of identity in the North of Chile, 1980-2000]. Estudios Atacameños 19:75–91

    Google Scholar 

  37. Zapata C (2007) Memoria e historia: El proyecto de una identidad colectiva entre los aymaras de Chile [Memory and history: the project of a collective identity among the Aymara of Chile]. Chungara 39:171–183

    Google Scholar 

  38. Kay SR, Fiszbein A, Opler LA (1987) The positive and negative syndrome scale (PANSS) for schizophrenia. Schizophr Bull 13(2):261–276. doi:10.1093/schbul/13.2.261

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  39. Phillips IR, Stein CH (2007) God’s will, God’s punishment, or God’s limitations? Religious coping strategies reported by young adults living with serious mental illness. J Clin Psychol 63:529–540

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  40. Pargament KI, Brandt C, Koenig HG (1998) Religion and coping.Handbook of religion and menal health. Academic press, San Diego, pp 111–128

    Book  Google Scholar 

  41. Weisman A, Gomes L, López S (2003) Shifting Blame Away From Ill Relatives: Latino Families’ Reactions to Schizophrenia. J Nerv Ment Dis 191(9):574–581

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  42. Rammohan A, Rao K, Subbakrishna DK (2002) Religious coping and psychological wellbeing in careers of relatives with schizophrenia. Acta Psychiatr Scand 105:356–362

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  43. Fallot RD (2007) Spirituality and religion in recovery: some current issues. Psychiatr Rehabil J 30(4):261–270

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  44. Mercier C, Pe’ladeau N, Tempier R (1998) Age, gender and quality of life in schizophrenia. Community Ment Health J 34:487–500

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  45. Caron J, Lecomte Y, Emmanuel S, Renaud S (2005) Predictors of quality of life in schizophrenia. Community Ment Health J 41:399–417

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  46. Gundermann H, González H, Vergara J (2007) Vigencia y desplazamiento de la lengua aymara en Chile [Force and displacement of the aymara’s language in Chile]. Estudio filológico 42:123–140

    Google Scholar 

  47. Kirberg A (2006) La salud del niño Aymara. Rev chil pediar 77:608–609

    Google Scholar 

  48. WHO (2013) Wordl Health Organization. Report on the Assessment of Mental Health Systems in Latin America and the Caribbean using the World Health Organization Assessment Instrument for Mental Health Systems (WHO-AIMS). http://www.who.int/mental_health/evidence/WHO-AIMS/en/. Accessed 1 Apr 2014

  49. Nolan JA, McEvoy JP, Koenig HG, Hooten EG, Whetten K, Pieper CF (2012) Religious coping and quality of life among individuals living with schizophrenia. Psychiatr Serv 63(10):1051–1054

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  50. Peters DH, Garg A, Bloom G, Walker DG, Brieger WR, Rahman MH (2008) Poverty and access to health care in developing countries. Ann NY Acad Sci 1136:161–171

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  51. Fervaha G, Agid O, Takeuchi H, Foussias G, Remington G (2013) Clinical determinants of life satisfaction in chronic schizophrenia: data from the CATIE study. Schizophr Res 151(1–3):203–208

Download references

Acknowledgments

This research was funded in part by CONICYT and BECAS-CHILE Postdoctorado en el Extranjero (74140004), the Convenio de Desempeño UTA-MINEDUC. We thank Felipe Ponce y Jorge Escudero for their assistance in the study and also the following people and facilities: Dr. Hugo Sánchez, Dr. Ricardo Alvites, Dr. Andrés Collado, Gladys Coaquira, Vilma Liendo and specially thanks to Dr. José Revilla from Hipólito Unanue Hospital in Tacna, Perú; Dr. Marcio Soto from Arequipa, Perú; Dr. Fernando Garitano, Dr. Mauricio Peredo and Dra. Mabel Romero from Centro de Rehabilitación y Salud Mental San Juan de Dios; and the Director of Hospital Psiquiátrico de la Caja Nacional de Salud from La Paz, Bolivia. We also thank Dra. Magdalena Gardilcic, Ester López, and Alejandra Lagos from Servicio de Salud de Arica, Chile, and extend a special thanks to all the patients and caregivers who participated in this study. Finally, a special thanks to the Dr. Stephen Gilman from National Institute of Child Health and Human Development who assisted with the preparation and proof reading of the manuscript.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Escuela de Psicología y Filosofía, Universidad de Tarapacá, Avenida 18 de Septiembre 2222, Arica, Chile

    Alejandra Caqueo-Urízar

  2. Department of Social and Behavioral Sciences, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, 677 Huntington Avenue, Boston, MA, 02115, USA

    Alejandra Caqueo-Urízar & David R. Williams

  3. EA 3279-Public Health, Chronic Diseases and Quality of Life, Research Unit, Aix-Marseille Univ, 13005, Marseille, France

    Laurent Boyer

  4. Universidad Católica del Norte, Avda, Angamos 0610, Antofagasta, Chile

    Alfonso Urzúa

Authors
  1. Alejandra Caqueo-Urízar
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Alfonso Urzúa
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Laurent Boyer
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. David R. Williams
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Alejandra Caqueo-Urízar.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Caqueo-Urízar, A., Urzúa, A., Boyer, L. et al. Religion involvement and quality of life in patients with schizophrenia in Latin America. Soc Psychiatry Psychiatr Epidemiol 51, 521–528 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00127-015-1156-5

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00127-015-1156-5

Keywords

Search

Navigation