Schizophrenia is a chronic mental disorder that leads to disability in several aspects of the individual’s personal, social, and occupational functioning. This study assesses and compares the level of disability among Nigerian outpatients with schizophrenia and healthy controls (HC). A comparative cross-sectional study among 100 schizophrenia outpatients with an ICD-10 diagnosis and 100 HC was conducted over a 4-month period. They completed a questionnaire containing the Zung’s Self-Rating Depression Scale (SDS), the World Health Organization Disability Assessment Schedule-Second Version (WHODAS-II). Symptoms of schizophrenia were assessed with the Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale (PANSS). Student’s t tests and Chi-square were used to compare patient with schizophrenia and healthy control. Pearson correlation and multiple linear regression analyses were used to assess the relationships of socio-demographic and clinical variable with disability. The patients with schizophrenia reported greater disability than the HC on most of the disability domains of WHODAS-II. They also reported significantly higher mean Zung’s SDS scores than the HC. Depressive symptoms, negative symptoms, and PANSS total were significantly related to all the WHODAS-II domains. The disability summary score was significantly predicted by depressive symptoms, negative and positive symptoms of schizophrenia, number of active symptoms (relapse) of schizophrenia, and marital status [F (5, 94) = 23.90, p < 0.001]. Schizophrenia is a disabling disorder that affects different aspects of a patient’s life. Treatment strategies that target these different aspects may help in reducing disability.

The South African Journal of Psychiatry publishes topical content in psychiatry for clinical practice and academic pursuits, including work in the subspecialty areas of psychiatry.