Inpatient treatment “careers” of persons with schizophrenia: Public and private hospital utilization

This paper describes a framework, based on the sociological concept of ldquocareer,rdquo for examining patterns, correlates, and implications of public and private hospital use by persons with schizophrenia. Using data on hospitalization and insurance status history as well as demographic and clinical variables obtained from the hospital records of 150 individuals with a diagnosis of schizophrenia treated at two Massachusetts state hospitals, three prototypical public/private career profiles were developed and their correlates examined