Highlights
- •Hospitalization is appropriate for acute stabilization, prolonged stays can contribute to reduced quality of life, increased healthcare expenditures, and trauma exposure with associated trauma-related symptoms.
- •There are significant differences in the average length of stay between Veterans with substance use disorders and those with psychotic disorders (B=.576, p<.001)
- •Veterans with neurocognitive disorders also had longer lengths of stay than those without neurocognitive disorders, respectively (B=.014, p<.001).
Abstract
It is well established that Veterans are at increased risk for mental health problems
and associated hospitalization. While hospitalization is appropriate for acute stabilization,
prolonged stays can contribute to reduced quality of life, increased healthcare expenditures,
and trauma exposure with associated trauma-related symptoms. To reduce inpatient psychiatric
length of stay and to improve patient outcomes, it is imperative that risk factors
for prolonged length of stay are elucidated. The purpose of this retrospective chart
review was to examine demographic and clinical characteristics and their association
with inpatient psychiatric length of stay in a sample of Veterans. Demographic information
collected included age and race. Clinical characteristics collected included primary
admitting psychiatric diagnosis, number of psychiatric emergencies during hospitalization,
utilization of restraint or seclusion, observation status, 30-day readmission status,
adherence to psychiatric follow-up appointments post-discharge, and presence of suicidality.
A total of 820 Veterans were included in the analysis. Age, primary psychiatric diagnosis,
occurrence of a psychiatric emergency, and observation status were significant predictors
of length of stay (F = 24.39, p < .001). There were significant differences in the average length of stay between
Veterans with substance use disorders and those with psychotic disorders (B = 0.576, p < .001). Likewise, Veterans with neurocognitive disorders also had longer lengths
of stay than those without neurocognitive disorders, respectively (B = 0.014, p < .001). In summary, quality of mental health care can be improved by reducing length
of stay, but additional understanding related to risk factors is first needed.
Keywords
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Article info
Publication history
Published online: December 16, 2022
Accepted:
December 3,
2022
Received in revised form:
October 5,
2022
Received:
January 7,
2022
Footnotes
☆This work has not received funding, nor has it been submitted elsewhere.
Identification
Copyright
© 2022 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
