Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-rdxmf Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-24T01:58:22.355Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Schizophrenic Patients Discharged from Hospital—A Follow-up Study

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  29 January 2018

Eve C. Johnstone ,
David G. C. Owens ,
Aviva Gold ,
Timothy J. Crow  and
J. Fiona Macmillan
Eve C. Johnstone*
Affiliation:
Division of Psychiatry, Clinical Research Centre, Northwick Park Hospital, Watford Road, Harrow, Middlesex
David G. C. Owens
Affiliation:
Division of Psychiatry, Clinical Research Centre, Northwick Park Hospital, Watford Road, Harrow, Middlesex
Aviva Gold
Affiliation:
Division of Psychiatry, Clinical Research Centre, Northwick Park Hospital, Watford Road, Harrow, Middlesex
Timothy J. Crow
Affiliation:
Division of Psychiatry, Clinical Research Centre, Northwick Park Hospital, Watford Road, Harrow, Middlesex
J. Fiona Macmillan
Affiliation:
Division of Psychiatry, Clinical Research Centre, Northwick Park Hospital, Watford Road, Harrow, Middlesex
*
∗Correspondence
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Summary

A cohort of 120 patients, comprising all those who met the St Louis criteria for a diagnosis of schizophrenia, discharged from a mental hospital over a five-year period, were followed-up in the community after an interval of five to nine years; 105 were traced and 94 were alive. Of those, 66 were living in UK, out of hospital, and willing to be seen. Their mental states, and social functioning and circumstances were assessed by interview with the patients and those with whom they lived; 18% had recovered to the extent that they had no significant symptoms and appeared to function satisfactorily. More than 50% had definite psychotic features. No patients and few relatives sought a return to hospital care, but severe emotional, social, and financial difficulties were commonplace; 27% of the sample had no contact with medical or social services, a further 14% saw only community nurses, and 24% only their general practitioners. The findings emphasise the limitations of community services in dealing with the chronicity and severity of the impairments resulting from schizophrenic illness.

Type
Research Article
Information
The British Journal of Psychiatry , Volume 145 , Issue 6 , December 1984 , pp. 586 - 590
Copyright
Copyright © 1984 The Royal College of Psychiatrists 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Cheadle, A. J., Freeman, H. L. & Korer, J. (1978) Chronic schizophrenic patients in the community. British Journal of Psychiatry, 132, 221–227.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Creer, C. (1975) Living with schizophrenia. Social Work Today, 6, 2–7.Google Scholar
Creer, C. Sturt, E. & Wykes, T. (1982) The role of relatives. In Long-term Community Care Experience in a London Borough (ed. Wing, J. K.), Psychological Medicine Monograph, Supplement 2.Google Scholar
Creer, C. & Wing, J. K. (1974) Schizophrenia at Home. National Schizophrenia Fellowship, 79 Victoria Road, Surbiton, Surrey, KT6 4JT.Google Scholar
Department of Health and Social Security (1975) Better Services for the Mentally III Cmnd 6233. London: HMSO.Google Scholar
Department of Health and Social Security (1981) Care in the Community: A Consultative Document on Moving Resources for Care in England. London: DHSS.Google Scholar
Feighner, J. P., Robins, E., Guze, S. B., Woodruff, A., Winokur, G. & Munoz, R. (1972) Diagnostic criteria for use in psychiatric research. Archives of General Psychiatry, 26, 57–63.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Johnstone, E. C., Owens, D. G. C., Gold, A., Crow, T. J. & Macmillan, J. F. (1981) Institutionalisation and the defects of schizophrenia. British Journal of Psychiatry, 139, 195–203.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Krawiecka, M., Goldberg, D. & Vaughan, M. (1977) A standardised psychiatric assessment for rating chronic psychotic patients. Acta Psychiatrica Scandinavica, 55, 299–308.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Leff, J. P. & Vaughn, C. (1972) Psychiatric patients in contact and out of contact with services: a clinical and social assessment. In Evaluating a Community Psychiatric Service (eds. Wing, J. K. & Hailey, A. M.). London: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
McCreadie, R. G. (1982) The Nithsdale Schizophrenia Survey: I. Psychiatric and Social Handicaps. British Journal of Psychiatry, 140, 582–586.Google Scholar
National Schizophrenia Fellowship (1979) Home Sweet Nothing: The Plight of Sufferers from Chronic Schizophrenia. National Schizophrenia Fellowship: 79 Victoria Road, Surbiton, Surrey, KT6 4NS.Google Scholar
Stevens, B. C. (1972) Dependence of schizophrenic patients on elderly relatives. Psychological Medicine, 2, 17–32.Google Scholar
Tooth, G. C. & Brooke, E. M. (1961) Trends in the mental hospital population and their effect on future planning, Lancet, i, 710–713.Google Scholar
Watt, D. C., Katz, K. & Shepherd, M. (1983) The natural history of schizophrenia: a 5 year prospective follow-up of a representative sample of schizophrenics by means of a standardized clinical and social assessment. Psychological Medicine, 13, 663–670.Google Scholar
Wing, J. K. (1982) Long-term community care; experience in a London borough. Psychological Medicine, Monograph Supplement 2.Google Scholar
Submit a response

eLetters

No eLetters have been published for this article.