Abstract

Full list of author information is available at the end of the articleBackground Lack of insight is a prevalent feature that affects ap-proximately 30 to 50 % of patients with schizophrenia [1-4]. Impaired insight has been suggested as a predict-ive value for poor treatment responses and outcomes in patients with schizophrenia [1,5-7], especially by affect-ing a patient’s quality of life [8], adherence to treatment [9-11] and increasing the risk of relapse and re-hospitalisation [12,13]. On the other hand, several stud-ies reported that high levels of insight can impair func-tioning, hope and quality of life. It has been suggested that these associations occur via self-stigma [14-16]. Because insight in schizophrenia is one important issue of pharmacological and psychological treatments, its assessment should be considered in the treatment and in the follow-up visits of patients. In recent years, researchers have reached a consensus on the definition of insight, which is now considered a continuous and