Two years follow-up on a cohort of 181 female patients after discharge from a psychiatric hospital
A cohort of 181 female patients was studied for two years after discharge from a psychiatric hospital. Social relations were considered to be good in 20% of the cases, psychiatric state in 28%.
Readmission within two years after discharge took place in 38% of all cases.
If patients who died and patients who were transferred to another institution are excluded, the readmission percentage within two years is 44.
The authors share the opinion of De Jonghe (1974) that in-patient treatment in psychiatry often makes only a small contribution to the improvement of prognosis.
Nevertheless this in-patient treatment is an indispensable link, if only for humanitarian reasons, in the chain of services for the benefit of the psychiatric patient.