[Epidemiology and psychiatry].

Epidemiology addresses itself more to disease than to the patient. In psychiatry the distinction between disease and health may be very arduous as are the determinations of its etiology. Efforts have been made recently to reach more coherence in the classification of diseases.

[The readmission of schizophrenics: a retrospective study over 5 years].

Since the introduction of neuroleptics, the number of beds in psychiatric hospitals has decreased progressively, but, in the same time, the number of readmissions has increased. For schizophrenic outpatients, we can estimate that 68% will be readmitted during the 5 years following their departure from the hospital. In our retrospective survey, we have studied the different factors which influence the readmissions.