Impact of deinstitutionalisation on the quality of life of Chinese patients with schizophrenia: A longitudinal pilot study

Objective: Most studies have found no deterioration in patients' quality of life following discharge to community-based settings with patients' satisfaction with their living conditions usually increasing. There is a lack of longitudinal studies on the impact of community resettlement on the quality of life of Chinese psychiatric patients. This study examined changes in the quality of life of Hong Kong Chinese patients during a 12-month follow-up period following their discharge to halfway houses. Patients and Methods: Twenty one patients with chronic schizophrenia were assessed before and every 2 months after their discharge to a halfway house, measuring objective and subjective quality of life indices and psychiatric symptoms with the following instruments: Satisfaction With Life Scale, the World Health Organization Quality of Life Measure-Abbreviated Hong Kong Chinese Version, Life Events List, Global Assessment Scale, and the Brief Psychiatric Rating Scale. Results: While there was significant improvement in objective quality of life indices following discharge to halfway houses, most subjective quality of life indices remained unchanged except for satisfaction with the living environment, which significantly decreased. No significant improvement was observed in Brief Psychiatric Rating Scale total scores. Conclusion: The subjective component of quality of life for Chinese patients did not improve with community placement, suggesting that socio-cultural factors play an important role in determining quality of life for patients with chronic schizophrenia.