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Long‐ and short‐term inpatients with schizophrenia in C hina: Implications for community‐based service development
Author(s) -
Wu Guowei,
Ouyang Xuan,
Yang Bo,
Li Li,
Wang Zheng,
Yi Wenying,
Liu Chang,
Wang Peng,
Chiu Helen F.K.,
Lee Edwin,
Xue Zhimin,
Rosenheck Robert,
Liu Zhening
Publication year - 2013
Publication title -
asia‐pacific psychiatry
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.654
H-Index - 21
eISSN - 1758-5872
pISSN - 1758-5864
DOI - 10.1111/j.1758-5872.2012.00229.x
Subject(s) - schizophrenia (object oriented programming) , term (time) , psychiatry , medicine , social isolation , global assessment of functioning , disease , psychology , physics , quantum mechanics
There is an increasing interest in the patterns of mental health care of people with serious mental illnesses in C hina, where outpatient and community‐based care are not fully developed and long‐term hospitalization is still not uncommon. Comparison of sociodemographic and clinical characteristics of long‐term and short‐term inpatients diagnosed with schizophrenia can be informative about pattern of treatment and their relationship to services needs. Methods Seventy‐three long‐term schizophrenia inpatients (current length of stay of more than 5 years) were compared to 116 short‐term schizophrenia inpatients (current length of stay of 30 days or less) assessed with the I ndividual B ackground Q uestionnaire, the P ositive and N egative S yndrome S cale ( PANSS ) and the S ocial S upport R ating S cale ( SSRS ). Results There was no significant difference between the groups on the total PANSS symptom score but the short‐term inpatients scored significantly higher than their long‐term counterparts on the P ositive S yndrome sub‐scale and the SSRS and lower on the N egative S yndrome sub‐scale. Discussion Differences in symptomatology and social functioning may be related to better medication adherence and more extended social isolation among long‐term inpatients while the increased positive symptoms are likely to reflect more acute disease process in short‐term inpatients, and possibly poorer medication adherence. These differences may be especially pronounced in developing countries like C hina in which community‐based services need to be more fully developed to facilitate medication adherence and prevent relapse, and to support community adjustment of socially isolated patients who otherwise require hospitalization.