Background: This study examined whether transition from hospital to hostel improves patients' quality of life (QOL).
Method: In a longitudinal prospective study comparing the QOL of 16 patients who moved to a hostel with that of 20 who remained hospitalized, we posited that the former would exhibit improved QOL. We also assessed the reliability of psychiatric patients' reports by comparing them with staff reports.
Results: No changes were reported in the QOL of hospitalized patients, whereas those who moved to the hostel exhibited significant improvement in all aspects of life, as reflected in the World Health Organizations Quality of Life measure (WHOQOL-BREF), reports by patients and staff and subjective (but not objective) indicators in the TL30s questionnaire. Patients' reports reflect a higher QOL improvement than staff reports but both display similar trends regarding changes in QOL.
Conclusions: It was concluded that the move from the hospital to the hostel improved the QOL of the patients.