BACKGROUND Several studies have indicated that Schizophrenia adversely affects several domains of life. Functional impairment refers to level of limitation that subjects experience in such domains like physical functioning, emotional well-being, social functioning and general health. In the majority of patients, these impairments are so severe that the return to independent living, even after hallmark symptoms like hallucinations and delusions have remitted is often difficult. There is dearth of information on studies focused on the impact of functional impairment experienced by individuals with Schizophrenia in Nigeria, hence the need for this study. OBJECTIVES The objectives of this study were to assess the level of functional impairments in individuals with schizophrenia attending the outpatient unit of the Federal Neuropsychiatric Hospital (FNPH) Yaba, Lagos and to identify the sociodemographic as well as clinical profile of functional impairments in the respondents. METHODS This is a cross-sectional study using a consecutive non randomized sampling technique at the Federal Neuro-psychiatric hospital, Yaba, Lagos. Participants were clinically stable attendees at the outpatient clinic of the hospital who met diagnostic criteria for schizophrenia using the Structured Clinical Interview (SCID) for DSM IV-TR. Each completed a semi-structured socio-demographic questionnaire, the Zung’s Self-Rating Depression Scale (SDS) and the xiv Medical outcome short form 36-item instruments (SF-36). Symptoms of schizophrenia were assessed using the Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale of Schizophrenia (PANSS). The Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) software (version 16) was used for the analysis. P-value less than 0.05 were interpreted as showing significant association between the variables. RESULTS One hundred and fifty two subjects participated in the study of which the mean age was 40.9 years (±10.7). The majority were more than 50years (28.3%). Only 32.2 % of patients were married. The mean duration of illness for the patients was 12.96years (±9.3). Sixty-two (39.5%) of the patients had no insight concerning their illness. Forty-nine participants (32.2%) met the criteria for depression (Zung’s SDS score > 50). The mean scores for the PANSS subscales (PANSS positive, negative and general psychopathology) were 9.18 (±8.11), 12.62 (±9.74), 12.41 (±9.41) respectively. The mean score for each domain of SF36 is as follows: role limitations due to physical functioning 58.39 (±20.17); energy and fatigue 59.94 (±21.93); role limitation due to emotional problems 60.86 (±45.89); social functioning 73.49 (±33.63); emotional well-being 73.78 (±22.20); General health 75.93 (±19.31), pain 80.01 (±30.27) and physical functioning 75.93 (±19.31). There was correlation (negative and positive) between SF 36 domains and illness variables. Zung’s SDS, PANSS subscales correlated with almost all SF36 domains except for the physical functioning domain which did not correlate with PANSS positive and negative symptoms. Binary logistic regression analysis showed that different socio-demographic and clinical variables independently predicted SF36 among patients with schizophrenia. The negative predictors of the Physical component summary were age (29-39years) [OR=0.165 (95%CI,