Hannover study on long-stay hospitalization - part I: prediction of long-stay hospitalisation in cases of chronic mental illness.
BACKGROUND
The problem of long-stay hospitalization is still a pressing issue. In this study we examined the possibility of detecting and characterising the group at risk of long-stay hospitalization in advance.


METHODS
This study examines the data of patients in the urban catchment area of the Medical University of Hannover, capital of Lower Saxony, Germany, during a period of 10 years.


CONCLUSIONS
The introduced "psychosocial risk-score", calculated at the first institutional contact, was able to predict the risk of long-term hospitalization. Characteristics of social disintegration, especially with regard to employment status, are of particular importance.
Bartusch
Stefan M
SM
Department of Social Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Hannover Medical School, 30623 Hannover, Germany. bartusch.stefan@mh-hannover.de
Elgeti
Hermann
H
Bastiaan
Peter
P
Machleidt
Wielant
W
Ziegenbein
Marc
M