Authors : Sara Niksalehi, Masoud Fallahi Khoshknab, Abolfazl Rahgo, Mahdi Rahgozar, Hamidreza Khankeh and Maryam Bamdad
Abstract: Many difficulties of rehospitalization and readmission and also high cost of hospitalization has caused paying more attention to after care follow up services in chronic disorders especially schizophrenia. This study aimed to compare the impact of two follow up methods in rate of rehospitzalization, length of hospitalization and mental condition of schizophrenics. In this research, 62 people who were officially diagnosed as schizophrenic has participated in this experimental study. Participants, using Randomized Permuted Block Method, has been placed in three groups. The 21 persons in home care group, 21 persons in telephone follow up group and 20 persons in control group. Demographic questionare and BPRS was filled for all participants and after each month of intervention BPRS was refilled. In order to analyze the data, ANOVA, sequential LSD and Paired t-test were utilized. Results showed home care group had lower rate of rehospitalization and shorter length of hospitalization. This group had statistically significantly better mental condition than control group. Telephone follow up group members discharged sooner and experienced significantly better mental condition but more frequent rehospitalization than 2 other groups. Nursing home care services are more effective than telephone follow up and can lead to improvement of schizophrenic mental condition, reduction in rate of rehospitalization and length of study. Telephone follow up services leads to increase in hospitalization but decrease in number of the days of hospitalization and also improvement of mental condition which shows the impact of intervention.
Sara Niksalehi, Masoud Fallahi Khoshknab, Abolfazl Rahgo, Mahdi Rahgozar, Hamidreza Khankeh and Maryam Bamdad, 2011. Comparison the Impact of Home Care Services and Telephone Follow up on Rehospitalization and Mental Condition of Schizophrenic Patients. Research Journal of Biological Sciences, 6: 440-445.