1 Janja Vranješ
1,2Daniela Petrić
1,2Tanja Grahovac Juretić
1 Zdravko Tovilović
1 Clinic for Psychiatry, University Hospital Centre rijeka, Croatia
2 Department of Psychiatry and Psychological medi- cine, Faculty of Medicine rijeka, Croatia
Zdravko Tovilović
clinic for psychiatry, University Hospital centre rijeka Krešimirova 42, 51 000 rijeka, croatia
e-mail: zdravko.tovilovic@gmail.com
Introduction. Day hospitals are becoming an in- creasingly common method of treatment for people with mental disorders in many croatian psychiatric hospitals, but research examining their effectiveness is still rare.
Aim. The aim of this study was to compare treatment satisfaction and quality of life between patients en- rolled in a day hospital program and patients hospi- talized on a psychiatric ward.
Methods. The study design was cross-sectional with two outcome measures: treatment satisfac- tion and quality of life. The study sample consisted of 120 adult patients of the clinic for psychiatry of the University Hospital centre rijeka. The first group consisted of 60 patients included in the day hospital psychosocial program, while the second group con- sisted of 60 patients hospitalized on the inpatient ward.
Results. day hospital patients reported a signifi- cantly higher level of overall treatment satisfaction compared to hospitalized patients (mean rank: 55 vs. 17, p=0.000) and were significantly more satisfied in four out of seven different treatment domains: the explanations about treatment (mean rank: 68 vs. 53, p=0.013), carefulness and precision of medical ex- amination (mean rank: 72 vs. 49, p=0.000), choices about treatment (mean rank: 67 vs. 57, p=0.027) and feeling of respect (mean rank: 68 vs. 53, p=0.010). day hospital patients also reported a significant-
ly higher level of overall subjective quality of life (mean: 4.26 vs. 3.71, p=0.005), being more satisfied with life in general (mean rank: 68 vs. 53, p=0,018), financial situation (mean rank: 67 vs. 54, p=0.046), accommodation (mean rank: 67 vs. 54, p=0.041), per- sonal safety (mean rank: 68 vs. 53, p=0.014), people they live with or living alone (mean rank: 71 vs. 50, p=0.001), relationship with their family (mean rank: 49 vs. 53, p=0.000) and their mental health (mean rank: 69 vs. 52, p=0.008).