Abstract:
Background: Psychiatric disorders are a group of diseases that affect the mind. Psychiatric
readmissions are related to many factors that intensify the disease severity and adversely impact
on cost and quality of healthcare. The increased rate of readmission of patients with psychiatric
diseases reduces the patient’s quality of life and becomes detrimental to patients and their
families.
Objective: To examine factors associated with readmissions of patients diagnosed with
psychiatric disorders at the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH)
Methods: A case-control study was conducted between June to August 2023 at NIMH. In total,
348 patients admitted with their guardians/relatives were conveniently recruited. Cases (n=174)
were individuals who had >1 psychiatric admissions during the past two years at the time of data
collection. Those who had their first inpatient admission at the time of data collection constituted
the control group (n=174). Data were collected using a pre-tested interviewer-administered
questionnaire and patient records. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics and Chi-square
tests.
Results: The mean age was 44.13 years for cases and 43.40 years for controls. Among cases, the
majority were men (53.4%; n=93) and were single (45.4%; n=79). In controls, the majority were
men (57.5%, n=100) and married (64.9%; n=113). Schizophrenia was the most common diagnosis
reported for cases (46.3%; n=88) and controls (61.2%; n=112). Marital status (p<0.001), family
history of psychiatric disorders (p<0.001), alcohol/substance use (p=0.002), living environment
(home or care house) (p<0.001), family support (p<0.001), stigma (p<0.001), feeling socially
neglect (p<0.001), having permanent caregiver (p<0.001), difficulty in obtaining drugs (p<0.001)
and poor drug compliance (p<0.001) were significantly associated with psychiatric readmissions.
Conclusions: Identification of multiple factors assists clinicians to design interventions targeted at
decreasing psychiatric readmissions which in turn improves the well-being of people.
Alcohol/substance abstinence, home visits by health professionals, improved drug compliance,
and family support are recommended to minimize psychiatric readmissions.
