OBJECTIVE: This study aimed at assessing social behavior and independent living skills in a sample of psychiatric patients before their discharge from a mental hospital and after 2 years living in community facilities. METHOD: A cross-sectional study was carried out in two stages using the Independent Living Skills Survey and the Social Behavior Scale. RESULTS: Most patients were male (58.7%). Mean age and hospitalization time were 57.5±11.8 and 29.8±10.2 years, respectively; 54.6% were schizophrenic, 25.3% had mental retardation and the remainder had different diagnoses. There was significant improvement in patients' social behavior and level of autonomy (p <0.05), as evidenced by comparison of their scores in stages 1 and 2. Hospitalization time, age and baseline score were the variables with the most consistent association with evolution scores. DISCUSSION: Patients' impairments in social role functioning and autonomy levels before their discharge from a mental health hospital were not incompatible with living in society. Patients showed great improvement in social behavior and level of autonomy after 2 years, defined by evolution scores measured by both scales.
Deinstitutionalization; social behavior; activities of daily living
