Does the place of treatment influence the quality of life of schizophrenics?

Objective: Chronically mentally ill patients in community mental health car e report a better quality of life (QOL) than those in long-term hospital ca re, which suggests that the treatment setting per se influences their QOL. Method: In a region where both treatment settings are of a comparable high standard, we assessed the QOL of 96 schizophrenic patients from these two t reatment settings, and the factors which most influenced their QOL. Results: Community-care patients reported a better QOL than long-term hospi tal-care patients. However, when other factors influencing QOL were include d in a regression analysis, the place of treatment was no longer significan t, but rather the social support, the severity of the illness, educational level and certain illness concepts. Conclusion: It is probably not the place per se which influences the QOL, b ut apart from personal, sociodemographic and illness-related factors, the a mount of social support that is provided in different settings.