2290 – Socio-demographic Characteristics Of Hospitalized Patients With Shizophrenia

Abstract

Introduction

One of the problems of the contemporary psychiatry is, certainly, hospitalization, because the freedom of an individual, altogether with the right to life and personal safety, is a basic human right. Hospitalization of patients with schizophrenia interferes with their psychological and social integrity, which is of high importance for their lives.

Objective

Is to determine whether the socio-demographic characteristics (gender, age, education, work and marital status) influence the decision making regarding the form of hospitalization.

Methodology

In purpose of the investigation, we used the closed-type questionnaires that were composed for the needs of this paper. In order to fill the questionnaires, we used the case records of hospitalized patients with schizophrenia during 2010. In order to analyze the obtained data we used the methods of descriptive statistics.

Results

597 schizophrenic patients with diagnosis F20.0 - F20.9 hospitalized during 2010, of which 472 (79.6%) voluntarily, and 125 (20.4%) involuntarily. Among socio-demographic characteristics, the differences between the voluntarily and involuntarily admitted patients are observed by: occupation, working status, number and cause of hospitalization (first and repeated), while there are no differences regarding the level of education and marital status. By gender, there are no differences in type of hospitalization.Voluntarily admitted patients are the predominant in the group of age 41-50, and the involuntary in the group of 31-40.

Conclusion

According to the presented analyses of results of socio-demographic characteristics of involuntarily and voluntarily hospitalized patients with schizophrenia, we came to a conclusion that the specified characteristics influence the form of hospitalization.