Patients with schizophrenia after the acute ward: Seven years' service utilization and clinical course

Abstract

What characterizes the use of treatment services and global functioning of patients with schizophrenia in sectorized psychiatry? Are there relationships between patient characteristics, treatment characteristics, and outcome? Eighty-one patients with DSM-IIIR schizophrenia treated at a short-term unit serving a defined catchment area were followed up after 7 years. Seventy-four of the 76 patients alive at follow-up participated in the study. Global functioning was measured with the Health Sickness Rating Scale. The patients had mainly been treated as outpatients with short hospitalizations. The level of outpatient contact was high, and most used antipsychotic medication throughout the follow-up period. Global outcome was poor in spite of demographic characteristics associated with good outcome in schizophrenia. The uniformly poor outcome indicates that the overall organization of treatment services did not suit these patients with schizophrenia. The treatment needs of patients with later onsets of psychosis seemed to be underestimated.