title: Hannover study on long-stay hospitalization - part I: prediction of long-stay hospitalisation in cases of chronic mental illness.
abstract: 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.
authors.affiliation: Department of Social Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Hannover Medical School, 30623 Hannover, Germany. bartusch.stefan@mh-hannover.de
authors.forename: Stefan M
authors.initials: SM
authors.lastname: Bartusch
authors.forename: Hermann
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Elgeti
authors.forename: Peter
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Bastiaan
authors.forename: Wielant
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Machleidt
authors.forename: Marc
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Ziegenbein