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Length of stay (LOS) in acute psychiatric hospitals has been heightened in recent years with the current economic climate and a growing realization that health care costs need to be contained. This study was designed to identify predictors of LOS which are available at the time of admission. Charts of 391 admissions to an acute psychiatric hospital were reviewed on the basis of a pre-constructed checklist. Regression modeling with the natural logarithm of LOS as the dependent variable was used to identify a multivariate model for LOS. Age, marital status, involuntary admission and diagnosis of an affective disorder or a psychotic disorder were shown to be independent variables that predicted length of stay. These variables in a multivariate model accounted for approximately 19% of the variance in LOS.
Muaid Ithman (Wed,) studied this question.