Abstract
Anecdotal reports suggest that persons with a dual diagnosis (mental retardation and psychiatric illness) admitted to acute psychiatric hospitals stay longer and require more services than individuals without mental retardation. To test these hypotheses, a questionnaire was completed for 64 people with dual diagnosis admitted to 10 psychiatric hospitals over 3 months. Multivariate analysis revealed that a diagnosis of mental retardation was not a predictor of length of stay. Use of 1-to-1 staffing was more likely, while arrangement of different community placement at discharge was less likely for persons with than without dual diagnosis. Additionally, age, diagnosis, symtomatology, living arrangement, insurance status, and service use distinguished the patient groups. Implications are discussed in the context of a need for further examination and training focused toward this population.
Similar content being viewed by others
REFERENCES
Addington, D., Addington, J., and Ens, I. (1993). Mentally retarded patients on general hospital psychiatric units. Can. J. Psychiatry 38: 134–136.
American Psychiatric Association (1994). Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, 4th edn., American Psychiatric Association, Washington, DC.
Beasley, J., Kroll, J., and Sovner, R. (1992). Community-based crisis mental health services for person with developmental disabilities: The S.T.A.R.T. model. Habilitative Ment. Health Newsl. 11: 55–57.
Borenstein, M., and Cohen, J. (1988). StatisticalPower Analysis:AComputer Program, Erlbaum, Hillsdale, NJ.
Borthwick-Duffy, S. (1994). Epidemiology and prevalence of psychopathology in persons with mental retardation. J. Consult. Clin. Psychol. 62: 17–27.
Borthwick-Dufy, S., and Eyman, R. (1990). Who are the dually diagnosed? Am. J. Ment. Retard. 94: 586–595.
Bruininks, R., Hill, B., and Morreau, L. (1988). Prevalence and implications of maladaptive behaviors and dual diagnosis in residential and other service programs. In Stark, J., Menolacino, F., Albarelli, M., and Gray, V. (eds.), Mental Retardation and Mental Health: Classification Diagnosis, Treatment Services, Springer, New York, pp. 3–29.
Cohen, J. (1987). Statistical Power Analysis for the Behavioral Sciences, Rev. edn., Erlbaum, Hillsdale, NJ.
Crews, W., Bonventura, S., and Rowe, F. (1994). Dual diagnosis: Prevalence of psychiatric disorders in a large state residential facility for individuals with mental retardation. Am. J. Ment. Retard. 98: 724–731.
Davidson, P., Cain, N., Sloane-Reeves, J., Giesow, V., Quijano, L., Van Heyningen, J., and Shoham, I. (1995). Crisis intervention for community-based individuals with developmental disabilities and behavioral and psychiatric disorders. Ment. Retard. 33: 21–30.
Davidson, P., Cain, N., Sloane-Reeves, J., Van Speybroech, A., Segel, J., Gutkin, J., Quijano, L., Kamer, M., Shoham, I., and Goldstein, E. (1994). Characteristics of community-based individuals with mental retardation and aggressive behavioral disorders. Am. J. Ment. Retard. 98: 704–716.
Edelstein, T., and Glenwick, D. (1997). Referral reasons for psychological services for adults with mental retardation. Res. Dev. Disabil. 18: 45–59.
Jacobson, J. (1982). Problem behavior and psychiatric impairment within a developmentally disabled population. I: Behavior frequency. Appl. Res. Ment. Retard. 3: 121–139. 158 Lohrer, Greene, Browning, and Lesser
Menolascino, F., and Fleisher, M. (1993). Mental health care in persons with mental retardation: Past, present, and future. In Fletcher, R., and Dosen, A. (eds.), Mental Health Aspects of Mental Retardation, Lexington Books, New York, pp. 18–41.
Menolascino, F., Gilson, S., and Levitas, A. (1986). Issues and treatment of mentally retarded patients in the community mental health system. Community Ment. Health J. 22: 314–327.
New York State Department of Health (1997). Statewide Planning and Research Cooperative System (SPARCS), New York State Department of Health, Albany.
Nezu, C. M., Nezu, A. M., and Gill-Weiss, M. (1992). Psychopathology inPersonWith Mental Retardation: Clinical Guidelines for Assessment and Treatment, Research Press, Champaign, IL.
Overall, J., and Gorhan, D. (1962). Brief psychiatric rating scale. Psychol. Rep. 10: 799–812.
Petronko, M., Harris, S., and Kormann, R. (1994). Community-based behavioral training approaches for people with mental retardation and mental illness. J. Consult. Clin. Psychol. 62: 49–54.
Pfadt, A. (1997). Community-base service update: Models for service delivery. Habilitative Ment. Health Newsl. 16: 26–28.
Reiss, S. (1990). Prevalence of dual diagnosis in community-based day programs in the Chicago metropolitan area. Am. J. Ment. Retard. 94: 578–585.
Reiss, S. (1994). Handbook of Challenging Behavior: Mental Health Aspects of Mental Retardation, IDS, Worthington, OH.
Rothstein, H., Borenstein, M., Cohen, J., and Pollack, S. (1990). Statistical power analysis for multiple regression/correlation: A computer program. Educ. Psychol. Meas. 50: 819–830.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Lohrer, S.P., Greene, E., Browning, C.J. et al. Dual Diagnosis: Examination of Service Use and Length of Stay During Psychiatric Hospitalization. Journal of Developmental and Physical Disabilities 14, 143–158 (2002). https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1015267430551
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1015267430551