Objective We discussed the influence of diary therapy for out-of-hospital rehabilitation of schizophrenia patients with first hospitalization. Methods Ninety schizophrenia patients with first hospitaliza-tion and who were during rehabilitation period were randomized into the intervention group and the control group with 45 cases in each group.The two groups both received systemic antipsychotics medication.The control group adopted general health education while the intervention group got diary therapy based upon general health education.The treatment effect was evaluated by medical and nursing staff with abundant experience using the self-medication compliance questionnaire,the brief psychiatric rating scale(BPRS)and social disability screening schedule(SDSS)at the first day,6th month and first year after intervention. Results The total score of BPRS,SDSS,medication compliance and relapse rate in the intervention group was statistically better than those of the control group. Conclusions Diary therapy could facilitate the recovery of racial function,improve the medica-tion compliance,reduce the relapse rate and increase life quality for schizophrenia patients.