Status quo of social support and social function in homeless schizophrenics / 中国基层医药

ABSTRACT

Objective:To investigate status quo of social support and social function in homeless schizophrenics.Methods:A total of 468 schizophrenics who received treatment in Hangzhou Seventh People's Hospital from January 2018 to December 2019 were included in this study. They were divided into homeless group ( n = 310) and non-homeless group ( n = 158) according to whether they had homeless behaviors. The basic information of admitted patients, level of social support and disease severity were surveyed among admitted patients using self-made questionnaire regarding basic information of admitted patients, Social Support Rating Scale, and Brief Psychiatric Rating Scale. Results:The numbers of schizophrenics in the aspects including male gender, rural household registration, non-local residents, no occupation, unmarried status, low level education, and age at 30-50 years in the homeless group were significantly higher than those in the non-homeless group ( χ2 = 3.58, 20.14, 18.69, 46.29, 33.16, 24.38, 29.75, all P < 0.05). The score for each SSRS domain and total score in the homeless group were significantly lower than those in the non-homeless group [(15.35 ± 5.42) points, (4.34 ± 2.78) points, (6.48 ± 1.89) points, (26.23 ± 7.35) points; (18.99 ± 3.78) points, (6.35 ± 3.23) points, (7.82 ± 2.01) points, (32.59 ± 7.02) points, t = 6.34, 10.52, 12.83, 14.68, all P < 0.001]. The score for each BPRS domain and total score in the homeless group were significantly higher than those in the non-homeless group [(19.35 ± 5.85) points, (22.58 ± 2.73) points, (18.74 ± 2.46) points, (18.48 ± 0.25) points, (16.38 ± 3.12) points, (79.43 ± 3.64) points; (12.92 ± 4.23) points, (16.24 ± 3.66) points, (16.97 ± 3.77) points, (10.58 ± 3.34) points, (6.36 ± 4.23) points, (62.72 ± 2.57) points, t = 9.92, 7.02, 6.33, 10.35, 15.74, 28.46, all P < 0.001]. Conclusion:The poor individual condition and low level of social support in patients with schizophrenia are important factors that cause homelessness.