Geriatric patients and services in state hospitals: data from a national survey.
Notwithstanding the large-scale deinstitutionalization of the elderly, psychogeriatric patients continue to make up a significant portion of patients in U.S. state hospitals. This paper reports pilot data from a national survey assessing the current status of geriatric populations in state hospitals. Elderly patients still account for one-fifth of state hospital patients, and two-thirds of state hospitals still have separate geriatric units. The data suggest that, while deinstitutionalization of the elderly may be continuing in many state hospitals, in more than one-third of state hospitals the geriatric census is on the rise. Tentative hypotheses suggesting further research are discussed.
Moak
G S
GS
University of Massachusetts Medical School, Worcester.
Fisher
W H
WH
D000368:Aged; D000544:Alzheimer Disease / Q000453:epidemiology; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D003704:Dementia / Q000453:epidemiology*; D006299:Health Services for the Aged / Q000639:trends*; D006778:Hospitals, Psychiatric / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D006783:Hospitals, State / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D006801:Humans; D015994:Incidence; D010343:Patient Admission / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D010865:Pilot Projects; D014481:United States / Q000453:epidemiology