Abstract: Objective To analyze the cost-effectiveness of the rehabilitation of intermittent hospitalization combined with home treatmenton chronic schizophrenics. Methods 100 patients with chronic schizophrenia were randomly assigned to study group and controlgroup, 50 cases in each group. All patients in both groups were treated with atypical antipsychotic drugs. An intermittent hospitalization combinedwith home treatment was given to the study group and a continuous hospitalization to the control group for a year. Positive and NegativeSyndrome Scale (PANSS), Activities of Daily Living Scale (ADL) and Schizophrenia Quality of Life Scale (SQLS) were used to evaluatethe patient's condition and activity of daily living and quality of life before and after the intervention. In the meantime, a cost-effectivenessanalysis was made. Results The interventions had significant influence on the scores of PANSS, ADL and SQLS in both groups. Thescores of PANSS, ADL and SQLS were significantly lower 1 year after the intervention than before in both groups (FB= 540.577, 318.148,326.751, all P=0.000). There was a significant interaction effect between intervention method and time in both groups on the scores ofPANSS, ADL and SQLS (FAB=13.710, 10.918, 6.578, P=0.000, 0.001, 0.012). The decrease value of those scores was significantly greater inthe study group than in the control group (t=3.703, 3.304, 2.565, P=0.000, 0.001, 0.012). The ratio of cost-effectiveness was larger in thestudy group than in the control group (t=7.035, P=0.000). Conclusion Intermittent hospitalization combined with home treatment is morebeneficial for the patients with chronic schizophrenia in controlling the syndrome, keeping or improving the activity of daily living and thequality of life. Therefore its rehabilitation benefit is better than that of continuous hospitalization.

Key words: schizophrenia, rehabilitation, cost-effectiveness analysis