[18-month follow-up of patients with schizophrenia]

This article presents the latest results of a 18 months follow-up study with schizophrenic patients, with the purpose to assess psychosocial functioning in the community after being discharged from a psychiatric hospital. The patients reported a satisfactory level of psychosocial and global functioning: mean = 2.4 at discharge; mean = 2.8 at six months (p < 0.05) and mean = 2.7 at 18 months follow-up. The use of medication was reduced from 62 per cent at six months to 59 per cent at 18 months by the patients, and the level of rehospitalization increased from 10 per cent at six months to 40 per cent at 18 months. Patients with no medication (t-test = p .001) and also rehospitalized patients (t-test = p .05) reported lower levels of satisfactory psychosocial functioning in comparison with patients under medication and also without rehospitalization. These results might contribute to a better psychosocial handling of schizophrenic patients in the community. The need for longitudinal follow-up research in Mexican schizophrenic patients is noted.