Short versus long hospitalization: a prospective controlled study. II. Results for schizophrenic inpatients

The authors compared treatment results for 141 schizophrenic patients randomly assigned to short-term or long-term hospitalization. The patients received intensive treatment and were on partially fixed drug dosage schedules. Test results indicated that the short-term group was functioning better at four weeks. However, at discharge (21 to 28 days for short-term patients; 90 to 120 days for long-term) the long-term group showed significantly better functioning. There were no significant differences between the groups on symptomatology at discharge. The authors discuss the implications of these findings for decisions regarding length and type of hospitalization for schizophrenic patients.