Nuruel Robert Kitomary, Samuel Likindikoki
Background: Functional disability is one of the serious, intrinsic corollaries of schizophrenia, and because of that, it’s taken as a usual part of the diagnosis and rarely addressed among patients. Different Socio-demographic and clinical characteristics of patients are known to be associated with functional disability, but have not yet been determined in Tanzania. The study aimed to determine the prevalence of functional disability and associated factors among patients with schizophrenia attending a psychiatric outpatient clinic at Muhimbili National Hospital, Dar es Salaam, Tanzania.
Methods: A hospital-based, cross-sectional survey was conducted at a psychiatric outpatient clinic at Muhimbili National Hospital, Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. We interviewed about 281 adults who were confirmed to have schizophrenia using the MINI International neuropsychiatric interview for psychotic disorders studies (MINI version 7.0.2). The World Health Organization Disability Scale-short version 12-items (WHODAS-12) was used to measure functional disability among participants.
Results: The overall prevalence of functional disability was 71.9%. About a third (33.5%), (30.6%), and about 1 in every 13 participants (7.8%) had mild, moderate, and severe functional disability, respectively. Increased odds of functional disability were independently associated with; the frequency of admission; 1-5 times (AOR=16.76, 95%CI: 4.74-59.33), ≥ 6 times (AOR= 9.34 95%CI: 2.38-38.28), typical (AOR=2.76 95%CI: 1.29-5.89), mixed (atypical and typical) antipsychotics (AOR=13.92 95%CI: 2.20-80.04); Not receiving psychotherapy during treatment (AOR=2.62 95%CI: 1.27-5.41) and substance use for the past twelve months (AOR=3.00 95%CI: 1.24-7.24) but male participants had decreased odds (AOR=0.40 95%CI: 0.18-0.87) of functional disability.
Conclusion: Patients with schizophrenia have a relatively higher prevalence of functional disability, especially males, those with a high frequency of admission, those using typical antipsychotics and mixed antipsychotics, and those not receiving psychotherapy as part of their treatments. Routine assessment of functional disability among patients with schizophrenia attending the clinic with early occupational therapy interventions is highly recommended.