The influence of antipsychotic type (typical vs. atypical) on quality of life among individuals with schizophrenia

Introduction. Schizophrenia is a severe mental health disorder affecting almost 0.5% of the global population. Despite decades of research, it remains a debilitating condition that significantly impacts individuals’ quality of life (QoL) in aspects such as physical health, psychological well-being, independence, social relationships, beliefs, and environment. Current pharmacological treatment for schizophrenia consists of typical and atypical antipsychotics. Objective and methods. We conducted a cross-sectional study on a population of 109 patients who met the DSM-IV-TR or ICD-10 criteria for schizophrenia, aiming to assess their QoL depending on the type of antipsychotic used (typical or atypical). Descriptive statistics were used to characterize the sample, and simple linear regression was used to evaluate the impact of the type of antipsychotic on QoL. In addition, educational level, pathology, and previous treatment were considered as controlling factors. QoL was assessed using the EuroQol EQ-5D Quality of Life Scale (EQ-5D-3L) and the abbreviated version of the World Health Organization Quality-of-Life (WHO-QOL-BREF) Scale. Results. Patients treated with atypical antipsychoti