Predicting Length of Stay in Psychiatric Inpatients
Author Information
Author(s): Warnke Ingeborg, Rössler Wulf, Herwig Uwe
Primary Institution: Psychiatric University Hospital, Zurich, Switzerland
Hypothesis
Does psychopathology at admission predict the length of inpatient stay in psychiatry?
Conclusion
Psychopathological syndromes and symptoms at admission explained only a small proportion of the length of inpatient stay.
Supporting Evidence
- Psychopathological syndromes explained about 5% of the variation in length of stay.
- Other clinical variables had a minor influence on length of stay.
- Specific admission for crisis intervention explained about 15% of variation in length of stay.
Takeaway
The study looked at whether a patient's mental health at the time of admission could help predict how long they would stay in the hospital, but it found that it didn't really help much.
Methodology
The study analyzed routine medical data from 3,220 inpatient episodes using multivariate linear and logistic regression to identify predictors of length of stay.
Potential Biases
Potential biases due to the subjective nature of clinical assessments and the specific context of the study.
Limitations
The sample had fewer patients from psycho-geriatric wards and the data were only from one hospital in Zurich.
Participant Demographics
Median age was 43 years, with 55% male patients.
Statistical Information
P-Value
p<0.05
Confidence Interval
95% CI not specified
Statistical Significance
p<0.05
Digital Object Identifier (DOI)
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