2019 Volume 38 Issue 3 Pages 314-324
Research indicates that in Japan, 20 to 50 percent of long-term hospitalized patients with schizophrenia lack the will to be discharged. Thus, the Ministry of Health Labor and Welfare promote discharge by psychiatric hospitals. This study investigated individual factors that are related to the discharge intention of long-term hospitalized schizophrenic patients. The subjects were 50 schizophrenia patients who were hospitalized for more than 1 year. Outcome measures included the existence of discharge intention, Defeatist Beliefs and Negative Symptoms. Consequently, Defeatist Beliefs were significantly greater in patients with those who did not exhibit discharge intent (p=0.001), and a significant association was confirmed even when confounding factors were included (p=0.01). The results of this study suggest that psychological intervention is efficacious for promoting discharge among those patients with schizophrenia who do not have the will to leave the hospital.
