Twenty-Five and Thirty-Five Year Follow up of First Admissions to Mental Hospital

Abstract

This has been a report of a study designed to assess the feasibility of long-term follow-up studies on Prince Edward Island. Cohorts of patients first admitted to the Island's only mental hospital during the early nineteen-thirties and early nineteen-forties were followed in retrospect in order to determine, a) the course and outcome of the major disorders over periods ranging up to thirty-five years and, b) the long-term effects of these disorders upon the families of the patients. Needed information was gathered through a review of hospital records, a search for death records and community interviews. The results of the study suggest that lifetime prognosis in the absence of modern treatment methods may be even worse than believed by most professionals working in the field. As might be expected the outlook was found to be particularly grave for schizophrenia. Success in following up a very high proportion of the cases over several decades supports the belief that Prince Edward Island offers unusual opportunities for studies of this kind.