What question did this study set out to answer?

This study examines the relationship between length of stay and clinical improvement in psychiatric inpatient care across diagnostic groups.

April 12, 2026Open Access

Factors Influencing Length of Stay and Symptom Improvement among Psychiatric Patients by Diagnosis: Analysis of the Korea National Survey

Key Points

This study examines the relationship between length of stay and clinical improvement in psychiatric inpatient care across diagnostic groups.
Conducted a cross-sectional secondary analysis using national hospital discharge data from Korea.
Included adults diagnosed with a mental or behavioral disorder (F00–F99) from the 2022–2023 survey.
Analyzed variables such as sociodemographic factors, comorbidities, psychiatric subdiagnoses, and length of stay.
Average length of stay was significantly longer for patients showing clinical improvement (21.48 days) compared to those not improving (12.18 days).
Longer length of stay correlated with higher odds of clinical improvement overall (OR = 1.04).
Strongest improvement odds were observed for schizophrenia (OR = 5.27) and dementia (OR = 2.38), with weaker effects noted in substance use disorders (OR = 0.60).

Abstract

Objectives: Psychiatric inpatient care plays a critical role in stabilizing acute mental health crises, yet the optimal length of stay (LOS) and its impact on short-term clinical outcomes remain poorly defined across diagnostic groups. This study aimed to examine how LOS in psychiatric inpatient units is associated with clinical improvement at discharge and to determine whether this association differs across major diagnostic groups, using nationally representative hospital discharge data from Korea. Methods: A cross-sectional secondary analysis was conducted using the 2022–2023 Korea National Hospital Discharge In-depth Injury Survey. Adults whose primary discharge diagnosis was a mental or behavioral disorder (Korean Standard Classification of Diseases, F00–F99) were included (n = 3700). Sociodemographic characteristics, hospital factors, comorbidities (Charlson Comorbidity Index), psychiatric subdiagnoses, surgical procedures, and LOS were analyzed. Results: The average LOS was longer in the improvement group (21.48 days) compared to the non-improvement group (12.18 days) (p < 0.001). Longer LOS was associated with higher odds of improvement overall (OR = 1.04, 95% CI: 1.03, 1.04; p < 0.001) and showed strong diagnosis-specific effects: schizophrenia (OR = 5.27, 95% CI: 3.41, 8.09), dementia (OR = 2.38, 95% CI: 0.10, 40.9), alcohol use disorder (OR = 2.21, 95% CI: 0.79, 6.36; interaction OR = 2.11, p < 0.05), whereas non-significant or weaker in mood disorders and substance use disorders (OR = 0.60, 95% CI: 0.17, 2.13) Significant interaction effects indicated that the magnitude and shape of the LOS outcome relationship differed by diagnostic category. Conclusions: Longer length of stay was significantly associated with clinical improvement at discharge, with the strongest effects observed in schizophrenia, dementia, and alcohol use disorder, but limited benefit in substance use disorders. These diagnosis-specific patterns support tailored inpatient duration policies rather than uniform psychiatric bed-day targets.

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Cite This Study

Sung et al. (Thu,) studied this question.

synapsesocial.com/papers/69db37404fe01fead37c5317 https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.32604/ijmhp.2026.077710

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