The WHO quality of life assessment instrument (WHOQOL-100) - Investigating its discriminant ability for psychiatric outpatients

This study scrutinizes the ability of the WHO quality of life assessment instrument (WHOQOL-100) to discriminate (1) between psychiatric outpatients and the general population, and (2) between subgroups of psychiatric outpatients. A sample of Dutch adult psychiatric outpatients (N=410) completed the WHOQOL-100. In addition, DSM-IV Axis-I and Axis-II diagnoses were obtained. Compared with the general population, psychiatric outpatients scored significantly lower on all aspects of self-reported quality of life (QOL). Within the group of outpatients, participants with DSM-IV diagnoses had lower scores than those without. Participants with diagnoses on both Axis-I and Axis-II of DSM-IV (comorbidity) had the lowest self-reported QOL. It is concluded that in psychiatric outpatients, outcome scores of self-reported QOL were negatively related to presence and degree of psychopathology. The WHOQOL-100 has good discriminant ability for psychiatric outpatients