Quality of life of schizophrenic patients on medications and implications for new drug trials.

The quality of life of schizophrenic patients participating in clinical trials of new neuroleptics is rarely systematically assessed. Factors that may have contributed to the neglect of such assessments include the difficulty of measuring changes affecting quality of life during short-term trials and the continued belief that schizophrenic patients' self-reports about inner states are unreliable. A model of determinants specifically related to the quality of life of schizophrenic patients in such trials would include symptoms, side effects of neuroleptics, and psychosocial performance. In view of the importance of assessing the quality of life of patients on medications, the author recommends that regulatory agencies require such assessments in clinical trials of new neuroleptics.