目的：嚴重精神科病人的再住院率比一般人來的高，而這些病人的過高住院費用已經在醫療上造成巨大的負擔，目前雖然已有部分資料探討台灣精神科的再住院率，然而目前尚未有直接比較思覺失調症與情感性疾病再住院率的研究，因此我們分析南台灣某精神科專科醫院這兩種病人再住院率的區別，並分析可能的危險因子。方法：我們在南台灣某精神科專科醫院取樣，取樣時間與對象為2007年這一年之間剛從急性病房出院的病人，且病人須符合思覺失調症或情感性疾病診斷，同時，我們持續追蹤這些個案維持一年的時間。結果：總計收案267人，其中有142位診斷為思覺失調症而有125位為情感性疾病病人。思覺失調症與情感性疾病病人一年內的再住院率分別是37.3%及39.2%，這兩組病人間，「出院後到再住院之間的時間」並無顯著的差異，我們也發現「之前住院次數較多」(p＜0.01)及「發病時間越短」(p＜0.01)這兩個危險因子都會明顯的增加再住院風險。另一方面，相較於未再住院的病人，再住院的病人年紀顯著比較輕p＜0.05)、上次住院時間顯著的較短(p＜0.05)、且過去較顯著的多次住院(p＜0.05)。討論：本研究的主要發現為：在思覺失調症與情感性疾病病人之間，「出院至再住院間的時間長度」並無明顯差別，且「過去較多次住院」及「發病時間較短」的病人顯著的比較容易再住院。

Background: The ＂revolving-door＂ patients have become a challenge for psychiatric care because of the high cost of repeated hospitalizations. The re-hospitalization rate in Taiwan is estimated at 6.1%, 22.3%, and 37.8% in periods of ＂less than 14 days,＂ ＂one year,＂ and ＂five years＂ after discharge, respectively. But, a direct comparison of re-hospitalization rates for patients with schizophrenia and affective disorders and the associated risk factors in Taiwan is still lacking. We conducted a retrospective study evaluating the re-hospitalization rate and associated risk factors for patients with schizophrenia or affective disorders in southern Taiwan. Methods: We recruited subjects with a diagnosis of schizophrenia or affective disorder, who were discharged in 2007, from the acute ward of one local mental hospital and follow-up. Results: We recruited 267 subjects (142 subjects with schizophrenia and 125 subjects with affective disorder). The re-hospitalization rates in a one-year follow-up were 37.3% and 39.2% for patients with schizophrenia and affective disorder, respectively. No significant differences were found in the ＂time to re-hospitalization＂ between the two diagnostic groups. In addition, we found that patients with re-hospitalization had significantly greater number of previous hospitalizations (p＜0.01) and significantly shorter length of illness (p＜0.01). The re-hospitalized patients were younger significantly (p＜0.05), had a significantly shorter length of illness (p＜0.05), and significantly more previous hospitalizations (p＜0.05) than the non-re-hospitalized patients. Discussion: Our main finding in this study was that no significant difference was found in the ＂time to re-hospitalization＂ within one year. Those with a shorter length of illness and more previous hospitalizations had a higher risk of re-hospitalization.