OBJETIVE: To find out the variation range according to gender, age, number of admissions, and stay length in hospital for schizophrenic patients. METHODS: The study was performed in Doutor João Machado Hospital, Natal/RN - Brazil from 1999 through 2005. The number of cases, the stay length in hospital, the gender, and the age of the mentioned group were collected. This data was analyzed by descriptive statistics and Mann-Whitney Test with a 5% significance level. RESULTS: Over that time, 12,732 people were admitted. The schizophrenic patients corresponded to 35.35% (4,501). The stay length in the hospital was 44.33 ± 36,9 days, compared to 29.5 ± 61.6 days for non-schizophrenic patients (p < 0.0001). The average age was 38.7 ± 13.5 years and most patients (65.78%) were male. In 1999, 39.8 out of 100 admitted patients were schizophrenic; in 2005 this ratio was reduced to 30.1. Paranoid schizophrenia was the most prevalent type, reaching 1,829 (40%) patients during the study time. CONCLUSIONS: The study shows a trend to reduced number of patients admitted due to schizophrenia, as well as a reduced stay length in the hospital.
Schizophrenia; epidemiology; diagnosis
