The association between timely outpatient visits and the likelihood of rehospitalization for schizophrenia patients.

Early rehospitalization is common in schizophrenia. Given the impact on cost containment, there is an urgent need to identify the predictors of rehospitalization. This study aims to examine the association between the frequency of timely outpatient visits and the likelihood of early rehospitalization in schizophrenia patients. After adjusting for gender, age, substance use, and length of stay, patients failing to attend any outpatient appointments within 2 months after discharge had significantly higher rehospitalization rates than those attending at least 1 appointment. Thus, timely outpatient visits, shortly after discharge, may be associated with a decreased risk of rehospitalizations. PsycINFO Database Record 2009 APA.