None declared BL, MP and MHB conceived and designed the study, and drafted the original and revised drafts of the article.
MD rated patients using the DUNDRUM-1, DUNDRUM-3 and DUNDRUM-4, revised drafts of the article and collated the database with ZA; LN and OG rated patients using the PANSS and GAF.
All authors contributed substantially to interpreting the data and revising drafts of the article, and they approved the final version.
JA helped supervised the LaMNA bird banding stations and revised a draft of the article.
HR supervised the analysis in the original study, developed the general idea of comparing the different approaches to measuring change, and critically revised a draft of the article.
MF has initiated, planned and supervised the whole process of the QLiS development, was involved in all phases of the conduct of the study and critically revised the draft of the article.
MF was responsible for conducting the studies from step 3 to step 6 and the statistical analyses in these steps and has critically revised the draft of the article.
AL had full access to all the study data and take responsibility for the data and accuracy of the data analysis, as well as the interpretation of the results obtained revising all drafts of the article.
TT conceived of the project, developed the methods, undertook the interviews and the analysis, prepared the first draft of the article, revised it, read and approved the final manuscript.
TT assisted in the data collection and analysis, prepared the first draft of the article and revised subsequent drafts.
The pre-publication history for this paper can be accessed here: http://www.biomedcentral.com/1471-2318/13/64/prepub authorshors contributed to conception and design, and to analysis and interpretation of data; or, wrote the first draft of the article and revised it critically for important intellectual content.
