There is a subpopulation of schizophrenic patients sometimes referred to as “revolving door” patients due to the frequency of readmissions in psychiatric units. Substance abuse and noncompliance with medication are the most important factors related to frequency of hospitalization. It has been related also with the number of previous admissions.

To describe the profile of the “revolving door” schizophrenic patient.

This retrospective study examines demographic and diagnostic features of the patients who met criteria for schizophrenia and have been admitted in our brief hospitalization unit during 2005. 209 adult patients were included. We compared the data of patients with only one admission (n=132) with those who have been admitted two or more times (n=77) in the period of study.

We detected a significative difference between the two groups in the number of previous hospitalizations. The group with one admission during 2005 had 3.75 previous hospitalizations (SD 5.34) vs. 6.37 previous hospitalizations (SD 5.75) for the group with two or more admissions during 2005 (p<0.01). No differences were found between the two groups about gender, age, the subtype of schizophrenia, substance abuse, the presence of another psychiatric illness, or the length of the stay.

Our study shows that the number of previous readmissions could be used as a main predictor of the risk of rehospitalization. This fact supports the results of other studies. However, we have not found the substance abuse as a predictor of earlier readmission, as other studies do.