Hospital admissions and clinical implications in schizophrenia and bipolar patients

Abstract

This study aims to understand the long-term outcomes of schizophrenia and bipolar disorder, with a specific focus on hospital admissions and criteria for involuntary hospitalization. Conducted at the “Prof. Dr. Alexandru Obregia” Clinical Psychiatry Hospital, Bucharest, between September 2022 and January 2023, our research analyzed data from 93 patients diagnosed with either schizophrenia or bipolar disorder. We employed descriptive and inferential statistical methods, including Analysis of Variance (ANOVA), to examine differences in age, income, disease duration, hospital admissions, involuntary hospitalization days, and Clinical Global Impressions (CGI) scores. Descriptive statistics revealed that patients with bipolar disorder were older and had slightly higher education levels than those with schizophrenia. Schizophrenia patients reported higher incomes. Both groups exhibited similar disease durations, indicative of chronic disease courses. ANOVA results showed significant differences in the number of hospital admissions between the two groups (p = 0.028 when equal variances were not assumed), with schizophrenia patients experiencing more frequent hospitalizations. However, there were no significant differences in involuntary hospitalization days. Interestingly, CGI scores suggested higher perceived illness severity in bipolar disorder, although the results did not reach conventional statistical significance (p = 0.056 when variances were not assumed).