Acute admission to psychiatric care: Factors related to length of stay

Abstract

This study assessed clinical and social factors which contributed to length of stay in hospital following an acute admission, and investigated professional and user opinion about the suitability of alternatives to admission. Over a six-month period 154 people admitted to hospital were assessed at admission, at discharge and again at four weeks (if still in hospital). The resources which enabled successful discharge to the community were largely (in 70% of cases) health authority resources. For those people who remained in hospital at four weeks (7% of admissions) very few of their symptoms were significantly reduced. Almost a quarter (9/38) of patients remaining in hospital dichot need to be there according to their psychiatrist. There was limited agreement between carers, patients and professionals about the suitability of specific resources which might have prevented the need for admission, although this finding might indicate that there are a number of alternative options which could be pursued in each case.