Abstract
This case–control study identified patient-specific factors associated with the longest psychiatric inpatient lengths of stay (LOS) at a large urban county hospital. Subjects with LOS ≥ 60 days comprised the extended LOS (ELOS) case cohort. An equally-sized control cohort consisted of a random sample of inpatients with LOS ≤ 30 days. Chi square tests and t tests were conducted to determine differences between groups. Factors associated with ELOS included older age, cognitive impairment, higher number of medical conditions requiring medication, and violence during hospital stay. Initiatives focused on community placement of patients with these characteristics may reduce prolonged LOS at safety-net hospitals.
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Acknowledgments
This project is supported by both the National Institute of Mental Health Career development Grant 1K23MH093689 and the National Center for Research Resources, the National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences, and the Office of the Director, National Institutes of Health, through UCSF-CTSI Grant Number KL2 RR024130. Its contents are solely the responsibility of the authors and do not necessarily represent the official views of NIH. The authors would like to thank Megan Sirna for her assistance in data collection.
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Cheng, J.E., Shumway, M., Leary, M. et al. Patient Factors Associated with Extended Length of Stay in the Psychiatric Inpatient Units of a Large Urban County Hospital. Community Ment Health J 52, 658–661 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10597-015-9912-2
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10597-015-9912-2