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OBJECTIVE: This observational study aims to analyze the quality of life of the administrative/technical employees of the University of Ferrara and its relationship with sleep quality, chronotype, and family components. PATIENTS AND METHODS: We invited all employees (528) to fill a data collection form (age, gender, education level, number of family components, being caregiver and job-related factors) and 3 anonymous questionnaires (VR-12 Health-Related Quality of Life, Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index, and Morningness-Eveningness Questionnaire). RESULTS: Out of 323 respondents, 72.5% were female, 76.4% had an age between 41-60 years old, 63.8% had a university degree, and 67.5% an administrative profile. Considering family-related characteristics: 81.1% of respondents lived with ≥2 people 35.3% had children, and 31.9% declared to be caregiver of a family member, not necessarily co-housing. Most of the employees resulted to be Morning-type (48.6%) and Intermediate- type (46.8%), with a very limited group of Evening-types (4.6%). Quality of sleep resulted to be the main factor affecting the health-related quality of life. Near half of our sample had poor sleep quality (49.2%; 95% CI: 43.6-54.8%). PSQI score resulted in significantly higher for people who were caregivers of a familiar (7.0 ± 3.6 vs. 6.1 ± 3.6, p=0.022). Family size and being caregiver of a familiar resulted significant factors for sleep quality, and indirectly for health-related quality of life. CONCLUSIONS: The quality of sleep is the most influencing parameter of the workers' quality of life. Family size and being caregiver of a family member indirectly affect the quality of life by influencing sleep quality. Appropriate consideration and management of these aspects in the working context could improve workers' well-being.

Poor adherence to pharmacotherapy negatively affects the course and the outcome of schizophreniaspectrum psychoses, enhancing the risk of relapse. Falloon and coworkers developed a Psychoeducation Program aimed at improving communication and problem-solving abilities in patients and their families. This study set out to evaluate changes in adherence to pharmacotherapy in patients diagnosed with schizophrenia-spectrum psychoses, by comparing one group exposed to the Falloon Psychoeducation Program (FPP) with another group exposed to family supportive therapy with generic information on the disorders. 340 patients diagnosed with schizophrenia and related disorders according to standardized criteria from 10 participating units distributed throughout the Italian National Health System (NHS), will be enrolled with 1:1 allocation by the method of blocks of randomized permutations. Patients will be reassessed at 6, 12 and 18 months after start of treatment (duration: 6 months). The primary objective is to evaluate changes in adherence to pharmacotherapy after psychoeducation. Adherence will be assessed at three-month intervals by measuring blood levels of the primary prescribed drug using high pressure liquid chromatography, and via the Medication Adherence Questionnaire and a modified version of the Adherence Interview. Secondary objectives are changes in the frequency of relapse and readmission, as the main indicator of the course of the disorder. Enrolled patients will be allocated to the FPP (yes/no) randomly, 1:1, in a procedure controlled by the coordinating unit; codes will be masked until the conclusion of the protocol (or the occurrence of a severe negative event). The raters will be blind to treatment allocation and will be tested for blinding after treatment completion. Intention-to-treat will be applied in considering the primary and secondary outcomes. Multiple imputations will be applied to integrate the missing data. The study started recruitment in February 2013; the total duration of the study is 27 months. If the psychoeducation program proves effective in improving adherence to pharmacotherapy and in reducing relapse and readmissions, its application could be proposed as a standard adjunctive psychosocial treatment within the Italian NHS. Protocol Registration System of ClinicalTrials.gov NCT01433094 ; registered on 20 August 2011; first patient was randomized on 12 February 2013.