Risk Factors Associated With Readmissions of Hospitalized Mentally Ill Patients

Abstract

Readmission is commonly used as an outcome or quality indicator for psychiatric inpatient services. This study aimed to investigate the risk factors associated with readmissions of hospitalized mentally ill patients. A descriptive correlation design was utilized in this study. A purposive sample was composed of 120 mentally ill patients. Data were collected from Al-Abbassia hospital for mental health. Tools for data collection, there were four tools included personal data interviewing sheet such as age, gender, marital status, level of education, diagnosis, number of admissions, length of stay in hospital, Medication Adherence Rating Scale, Life Events Questionnaire and Multidimensional Scale of Perceived Social Support .Results, it was found that, 45.8% of the studied subjects were diagnosed as schizophrenic, while 13.4 % were depressed, nearly two thirds of them 64.1% were admitted to the hospital from one to three times. There was statistical significant correlation between medication adherence and patients' gender .Also, statistical significant correlation was found between length of hospital stay and medication adherence. Conclusion, readmission was high among psychiatric patients. Poor adherence to medication was associated with psychiatric early readmission. Recommendations, implementation of psycho-educational program for patients and their families to reduce risk factors associated with readmission and preventive measures .Future studies should be applied to include other variables related to readmission.