Abstract

Objective A large proportion of persons with serious and persistent mental disorders experience disability that interferes with their quality of life This group of patients require rehabilitation services Knowledge of the factors that are associated with good rehabilitation outcome can be used to optimize the structure of services to meet the needs of the patient population This study was undertaken to assess the outcomes of care among patients admitted to the rehabilitation unit of a specialist neuropsychiatric hospital Aro Abeokuta Nigeria Methods We conducted a retrospective review of clinical records of all patients admitted to the rehabilitation unit of neuropsychiatric hospital Aro over eleven years period from September 2002 to august 2013 Data was collected using a semi-structured proforma and analysis was done using SPSS version 17 Results The medical records of 56 patients were analyzed The mean SD age of the sample was 54 6 14 4 and 64 of them were male The median duration of stay in the rehabilitation unit was 41 3 months Among the patients 26 8 completed rehabilitation programme and were discharged into the community The factors identified by Cox proportional hazard regression analysis that significantly influenced achieving discharge among this cohort were high education previous employment good social and family support good activities of daily living younger age and vocational engagement Conclusion In this sample of rehabilitation in-service patients we conclude that good socio-demographic profiles and engagement in vocational activities were significantly associated with achieving discharge In Nigeria and other developing countries the need for the recognition of the role of rehabilitation in addressing the adverse consequences of mental disability is highly warranted