The recidivism of mental patients: A review of past studies.

A review of studies on readmission of patients to mental hospitals uncovered only one variable that consistently predicted the rehospitalization of mental patients: the number of previous admissions. It is suggested that the tendency of the psychiatric profession to search for a determinant of rehospitalization in diagnostic and psychopathological terms results in too narrow a focus, and that social processes contribute in large measure to patient readmission rates.