[Schizophrenia: quality of life and years of evolution]

A study was made of quality of life in schizophrenia depending on years of evolution. In a sample of 100 patients, the quality of life scale of Heinrichs et al. (1984) was used as a measurement instrument for analyzing differences in three study groups (evolution less than five years, six to ten years, over ten years). A progressive decrease occurred in the total scores in three of four CLS categories for schizophrenia of longer duration. In this group, higher scores were obtained in the Instrumental Role category, but the difference was not significant.