[Quality of life and occupational domain in schizophrenia: a gender comparison]

Schizophrenia has been associated with low quality of life in patients, and the impact can vary by gender. Knowing gender differences may help implement specific interventions. This study focuses on quality of life in male and female outpatients with schizophrenia, particularly examining the occupational domain. A cross-sectional study using the Quality of Life Scale (QLS-BR) was carried out. Comparisons of scores by gender used uni- and multivariate analyses by means of a classification tree through the CHAID algorithm and ordinal logistic regression. Women showed higher quality of life scores (p < 0.05). In the occupational domain, marital status was a relevant variable; single marital status (for men or women) was associated with lower quality of life as compared to married status, with OR = 10.0 (CI: 2.9-33.3) for men and OR = 4.5 (CI: 1.2-16.6) for women, respectively. Duration of illness (> 5 years) was another significant factor for lower scores. Women had better quality of life scores than men, suggesting that they have more occupational activities due to their greater participation in domestic and social activities.