The impact of the Chi-Chi earthquake on the incidence of hospitalizations for schizophrenia and on concomitant hospital choice.

This study aimed to evaluate the impact of a catastrophic earthquake on the incidence of hospitalizations for schizophrenia, and on the choice of hospitals for patients thus hospitalized, using a quasi-experimental design. Results demonstrated post-catastrophe increases in the incidence of hospitalizations for schizophrenia by 11.0 and 21.6% in the first and second year after the disaster, respectively. Among index hospitalizations for schizophrenia, the earthquake was associated with decreases in the use of teaching and public hospitals. For patients with schizophrenia, aggravation of symptoms and the likelihood of being crowded out of the use of health care services by those with other physical or mental illnesses after a catastrophe warrant our attention.