Psychiatric Comorbidity and Length of Stay in a general hospital
Introduction Psychiatric comorbidity has a significant impact on the patient’s overall health, with an increased risk of death for those patients with mental-physical comorbidity (Tan et al., 2021). This impacts, among other things, the average hospital stay of a patient with psychiatric comorbidit...
| Main Authors: | , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Cambridge University Press
2023-03-01
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| Series: | European Psychiatry |
| Online Access: | https://www.cambridge.org/core/product/identifier/S0924933823012300/type/journal_article |
| _version_ | 1797617385219293184 |
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| author | R. Fernández Fernández P. del Sol Calderón Á. Izquierdo de la Puente R. Blanco Fernández M. Martín García |
| author_facet | R. Fernández Fernández P. del Sol Calderón Á. Izquierdo de la Puente R. Blanco Fernández M. Martín García |
| author_sort | R. Fernández Fernández |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description |
Introduction
Psychiatric comorbidity has a significant impact on the patient’s overall health, with an increased risk of death for those patients with mental-physical comorbidity (Tan et al., 2021). This impacts, among other things, the average hospital stay of a patient with psychiatric comorbidity. For example, an American study shows that psychiatric comorbidity was associated with greater inpatient utilization, including the risk of additional hospitalizations, days of stay, and hospitalization charges (Sayers et al., 2007). Our study aims to confirm these results in patients admitted to a general hospital for any cause and presenting psychiatric comorbidity.
Objectives
To compare the mean length of stay of patients admitted to a general hospital for any cause according to whether they have psychiatric comorbidity or not.
Methods
We made a descriptive retrospective study through the use of electronic medical records. The drug use history and average day of hospitalization were obtained for all patients admitted to the inpatient service of a general hospital during a 3-year period.
Results
The mean length of stay was longer in patients with psychiatric comorbidity (mean = 9.87 days, SD = 15.45) than in patients without psychiatric comorbidity (mean = 5.23 days, SD = 7.16), the difference being statistically significant for the analysis of variance with a small effect size (F = 18.2; p < 0.001, η²=0.038). The assumption of the equality of variances of the two groups is not fulfilled (Levene F = 29.0; p < 0.01) so Welch’s nonparametric test was applied, whose results do not modify those obtained.
N
Mean
SD
SE
No psychiatric comorbidity
296
5.23
7.16
0.416
Psychiatric comorbidity
238
9.87
15.45
1.002
Conclusions
Our results are in line with other studies, showing a longer mean length of stay in those patients admitted for any cause and with associated psychiatric comorbidity. This highlights the importance of having an integrated psychiatry service in a general hospital, as Bronson points out, where they find a shorter mean length of stay in units that have integrated, proactive psychiatric care (Bronson et al., 2019).
References
Bronson, B. D., Alam, A., & Schwartz, J. E. (2019). The Impact of Integrated Psychiatric Care on Hospital Medicine Length of Stay: A Pre-Post Intervention Design With a Simultaneous Usual Care Comparison. Psychosomatics.
Sayers, S. L., Hanrahan, N., Kutney, A., Clarke, S. P., Reis, B. F., & Riegel, B. (2007). Psychiatric comorbidity and greater hospitalization risk, longer length of stay, and higher hospitalization costs in older adults with heart failure. Journal of the American Geriatrics Society.
Tan, X. W., Lee, E. S., Toh, M., Lum, A., Seah, D., Leong, K. P., Chan, C., Fung, D., & Tor, P. C. (2021). Comparison of mental-physical comorbidity, risk of death and mortality among patients with mental disorders - A retrospective cohort study. Journal of psychiatric research.
Disclosure of Interest
None Declared |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-11T07:55:13Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-f03ae59ee5e4464a817a434811d226f9 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 0924-9338 1778-3585 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-11T07:55:13Z |
| publishDate | 2023-03-01 |
| publisher | Cambridge University Press |
| record_format | Article |
| series | European Psychiatry |
| spelling | doaj.art-f03ae59ee5e4464a817a434811d226f92023-11-17T05:06:00ZengCambridge University PressEuropean Psychiatry0924-93381778-35852023-03-0166S588S58910.1192/j.eurpsy.2023.1230Psychiatric Comorbidity and Length of Stay in a general hospitalR. Fernández Fernández0P. del Sol Calderón1Á. Izquierdo de la Puente2R. Blanco Fernández3M. Martín García4Psychiatry, Hospital Universitario Infanta Cristina, ParlaPsychiatry, Hospital Universitario Puerta de Hierro, Majadahonda, SpainPsychiatry, Hospital Universitario Puerta de Hierro, Majadahonda, SpainPsychiatry, Hospital Universitario Puerta de Hierro, Majadahonda, SpainPsychiatry, Hospital Universitario Puerta de Hierro, Majadahonda, Spain Introduction Psychiatric comorbidity has a significant impact on the patient’s overall health, with an increased risk of death for those patients with mental-physical comorbidity (Tan et al., 2021). This impacts, among other things, the average hospital stay of a patient with psychiatric comorbidity. For example, an American study shows that psychiatric comorbidity was associated with greater inpatient utilization, including the risk of additional hospitalizations, days of stay, and hospitalization charges (Sayers et al., 2007). Our study aims to confirm these results in patients admitted to a general hospital for any cause and presenting psychiatric comorbidity. Objectives To compare the mean length of stay of patients admitted to a general hospital for any cause according to whether they have psychiatric comorbidity or not. Methods We made a descriptive retrospective study through the use of electronic medical records. The drug use history and average day of hospitalization were obtained for all patients admitted to the inpatient service of a general hospital during a 3-year period. Results The mean length of stay was longer in patients with psychiatric comorbidity (mean = 9.87 days, SD = 15.45) than in patients without psychiatric comorbidity (mean = 5.23 days, SD = 7.16), the difference being statistically significant for the analysis of variance with a small effect size (F = 18.2; p < 0.001, η²=0.038). The assumption of the equality of variances of the two groups is not fulfilled (Levene F = 29.0; p < 0.01) so Welch’s nonparametric test was applied, whose results do not modify those obtained. N Mean SD SE No psychiatric comorbidity 296 5.23 7.16 0.416 Psychiatric comorbidity 238 9.87 15.45 1.002 Conclusions Our results are in line with other studies, showing a longer mean length of stay in those patients admitted for any cause and with associated psychiatric comorbidity. This highlights the importance of having an integrated psychiatry service in a general hospital, as Bronson points out, where they find a shorter mean length of stay in units that have integrated, proactive psychiatric care (Bronson et al., 2019). References Bronson, B. D., Alam, A., & Schwartz, J. E. (2019). The Impact of Integrated Psychiatric Care on Hospital Medicine Length of Stay: A Pre-Post Intervention Design With a Simultaneous Usual Care Comparison. Psychosomatics. Sayers, S. L., Hanrahan, N., Kutney, A., Clarke, S. P., Reis, B. F., & Riegel, B. (2007). Psychiatric comorbidity and greater hospitalization risk, longer length of stay, and higher hospitalization costs in older adults with heart failure. Journal of the American Geriatrics Society. Tan, X. W., Lee, E. S., Toh, M., Lum, A., Seah, D., Leong, K. P., Chan, C., Fung, D., & Tor, P. C. (2021). Comparison of mental-physical comorbidity, risk of death and mortality among patients with mental disorders - A retrospective cohort study. Journal of psychiatric research. Disclosure of Interest None Declaredhttps://www.cambridge.org/core/product/identifier/S0924933823012300/type/journal_article |
| spellingShingle | R. Fernández Fernández P. del Sol Calderón Á. Izquierdo de la Puente R. Blanco Fernández M. Martín García Psychiatric Comorbidity and Length of Stay in a general hospital European Psychiatry |
| title | Psychiatric Comorbidity and Length of Stay in a general hospital |
| title_full | Psychiatric Comorbidity and Length of Stay in a general hospital |
| title_fullStr | Psychiatric Comorbidity and Length of Stay in a general hospital |
| title_full_unstemmed | Psychiatric Comorbidity and Length of Stay in a general hospital |
| title_short | Psychiatric Comorbidity and Length of Stay in a general hospital |
| title_sort | psychiatric comorbidity and length of stay in a general hospital |
| url | https://www.cambridge.org/core/product/identifier/S0924933823012300/type/journal_article |
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