Substance abuse and hospitalization for mood disorder among Medicaid beneficiaries.
OBJECTIVE
We compared the influence of substance abuse with that of other comorbidities (e.g., anxiety, HIV) among people with mood disorder (N=129,524) to explore risk factors for psychiatric hospitalization and early readmission within 3 months of discharge.


METHODS
After linking Medicaid claims data in 5 states (California, Florida, New Jersey, New York, and Texas) to community-level information, we used logistic and Cox regression to examine hospitalization risk factors.


RESULTS
Twenty-four percent of beneficiaries with mood disorder were hospitalized. Of these, 24% were rehospitalized after discharge. Those with comorbid substance abuse accounted for 36% of all baseline hospitalizations and half of all readmissions.


CONCLUSIONS
Results highlight the need for increased and sustained funding for the treatment of comorbid substance abuse and mood disorder, and for enhanced partnership between mental health and substance abuse professionals.
Prince
Jonathan D
JD
Institute for Health, Health Care Policy, and Aging Research, School of Social Work, Rutgers University, 536 George St, New Brunswick, NJ 08901, USA. jdprince@rci.rutgers.edu
Akincigil
Ayse
A
Hoover
Donald R
DR
Walkup
James T
JT
Bilder
Scott
S
Crystal
Stephen
S
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D015897:Comorbidity; D005260:Female; D006760:Hospitalization / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D006801:Humans; D016015:Logistic Models; D008297:Male; D008484:Medicaid / Q000191:economics / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D008875:Middle Aged; D019964:Mood Disorders / Q000453:epidemiology*; D010865:Pilot Projects; D016016:Proportional Hazards Models; D011594:Psychometrics; D012307:Risk Factors; D019966:Substance-Related Disorders / Q000453:epidemiology*; D014481:United States / Q000453:epidemiology; D055815:Young Adult