title: What happens to people receiving inpatient psychiatric services in mixed rural and urban communities?
abstract: This paper examines three sets of hypothetical variables-demographic, diagnostic, and service-that may explain recidivism and/or lost-to-follow-up in people recently discharged from inpatient care. Using chart reviews, these variables were collected on 110 people who were discharged from a state hospital during a 24-month period who met criteria for recidivism, 51 individuals who were lost to follow-up, and 106 peers selected randomly as a comparison group. Results of between-group and survival analyses showed that recidivism was associated with a lack of 24-hour follow-up after discharge, a relatively high number of prior hospitalizations, gender (female), and diagnosis (borderline personality disorder [BPD]). Lost-to-follow-up was associated with not receiving services 24 hours after discharge, gender (male), and relatively low prior hospitalizations. Research failed to show that either outcome was associated with rural versus urban/suburban catchments. This kind of information is useful for developing discharge plans that will help to keep people out of the hospital and keep them from being lost to follow-up.
authors.affiliation: McFarland Mental Health Center, Springfield, Illinois, USA.
authors.forename: Cathy
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Yeaman
authors.forename: Janice
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Gambach
authors.forename: Barbara
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Bach
authors.forename: Jackie
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Manker
authors.forename: Sarah
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Diwan
authors.forename: Patrick
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Corrigan
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000359:Aftercare / Q000592:standards*; D002391:Catchment Area, Health; D003266:Continuity of Patient Care / Q000592:standards*; D005260:Female; D006302:Health Services Research; D006778:Hospitals, Psychiatric / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D006783:Hospitals, State / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D006801:Humans; D007087:Illinois; D008297:Male; D010351:Patient Discharge / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D010359:Patient Readmission / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D012008:Recurrence; D012424:Rural Population; D014505:Urban Population