Objective: The purpose of this study was to explore factors associated with high-frequency users (HFUs) of psychiatric inpatient services in Taiwan compared with low-frequency users (LFUs), focusing on their social, demographic, clinical and service-related profiles. Methods: A random sample of 10% (n=109) of all subjects admitted to Beitou Armed Forces Hospital, in Taipei, Taiwan, from January 2008 to December 2010 were divided into HFUs (n=38) and LFUs (n=71) in accordance with modified Weiden's criteria. We collected data from medical records of HFUs and LFUs to assess the impact of the profiles on the patterns of hospitalization. Results: According to these criteria, 34.9% of the study population were HFUs. Logistic regression analyses indicated that community-based outpatient services were significantly associated with decreasingly more frequent readmissions (p<0.05). A Poisson regression model showed shorter mean length of each admission (p<0.001), a diagnosis of psychotic disorder due to general medical condition (p<0.001), suicidal behavior (p<0.05) and educational level lower than senior high school (p<0.01) to be the significant predictors of HFUs. Conclusions: The most important factors related to frequency of hospitalization were community-based outpatient services, shorter mean length of each admission, a diagnosis of psychotic disorder due to general medical condition, suicidal behavior, and educational level lower than senior high school. The mental health system should therefore provide better resources to these patients to reduce hospitalization rates.
關聯:
臺灣精神醫學=Taiwanese Journal of Psychiatry 26(3),頁187-196