Schizophrenic patients discharged from hospital--a follow-up study.

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.