Brief hospitalization of patients with families: initial results.

A total of 175 newly admitted inpatients who lived with families were randomly assigned to three treatment groups: standard inpatient care (discharge at the therapist's discretion), brief hospitalization (one week or less) with transitional day care available, and brief hospitalization without day care. Outpatient aftercare was offered to all patients. The three groups showed no significant differences as to amount of improvement in levels of psychopathology at 3 and 12 weeks, but the briefly hospitalized patients were able to resume their vocational roles sooner. There were no significant differences among the groups in readmission rates.