title: Prediction of readmission of psychiatric inpatients.
abstract: Using demographic and episode-based variables this study attempted to predict which patients would require frequent psychiatric hospitalizations. Records of 943 patients were randomly selected from 14,649 admissions and examined for a 5-yr. period following initial admission. Sex, ethnicity, and age at first admission were not significantly related to readmission. Among the demographic variables, marriage was inversely related to readmission. Involuntary commitment and a longer length of stay at the original admission were associated with a higher rate of readmission. Despite the results being statistically significant, the small covariances of these effects indicate little clinical utility in the prediction of readmission for an individual patient.
authors.affiliation: University of Texas Houston Medical School, USA.
authors.forename: Sarah
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Feigon
authors.forename: J Ray
authors.initials: JR
authors.lastname: Hays
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006760:Hospitalization / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D001523:Mental Disorders / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000534:rehabilitation*; D010343:Patient Admission / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D011446:Prospective Studies