[Schizophrenia and quality of life--sex-specific aspects]

Empirical studies show that schizophrenic women and men differ in psychological as well as social characteristics. In women the course of illness and objective life situation seem to be more favourable. In studies on the subjective quality of life in psychiatric patients, gender-specific aspects have hardly been considered so far. Some results indicate that women--contrary to women of the general population--are more content than male psychiatric patients. The systematic inclusion of gender-specific aspects in quality of life studies might clarify how quality of life is influenced in psychiatric patients. It might also contribute to designing psychiatric care in a way that specific sources of satisfaction are made use of.