title: Pattern of psychiatric illnesses among long-stay patients at Mental Health Hospital, Taif, Saudi Arabia: a 10-year retrospective study.
abstract: To identify the pattern and determinants of psychiatric illness and the predictors of long stay among long-stay patients at the Mental Health Hospital, Taif, Saudi Arabia, we examined a total of 430 records of patients who had been admitted during the period January 1999-January 2009 and had stayed for > 9 months. More than half these patients had a history of drug addiction (60.7%). The majority were diagnosed with schizophrenia (88.8%) and mental retardation was reported in 17.7%. Personality disorders and epilepsy were diagnosed in 3.7% and 1.9% of the participants respectively. The mean duration of hospital stay was 6.16 (standard deviation 2.32; range 1-10) years. Multivariate logistic regression analysis showed that patients diagnosed with schizophrenia accompanied by mental retardation, those with lower education levels, and those with a history of co-morbid chronic diseases stayed for more than 2 years.
authors.affiliation: Department of Family Medicine, Al-Hada Armed Forces Hospital, Taif, Saudi Arabia.
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Al-Zahrani
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Al-Qarni
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Abdel-Fattah
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D002908:Chronic Disease; D004522:Educational Status; D005260:Female; D006778:Hospitals, Psychiatric / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D006801:Humans; D008607:Intellectual Disability / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000523:psychology; D007902:Length of Stay / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D008297:Male; D001523:Mental Disorders / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000523:psychology; D008875:Middle Aged; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D012529:Saudi Arabia / Q000453:epidemiology; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D019966:Substance-Related Disorders / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000523:psychology; D055815:Young Adult