Length of Stay in the Mental Health Facilities in Korea

Lee, Young Moon; Kim, Jeong Hoon; Lee, Ho Young; Jeong, Young Ki; Lim, Ki Young; Lee, Joo Hoon; Rhee, Choong Soon

Abstract

We have randomly selected 1,200 psychiatric inpatients from the whole psychiatic inpatients population in Korea, and analyzed their length of stay far the purpose of contributing to community mental health practice in Korea. The results were as follows: 1) The half of total samples' length of stay were within 761 days, and 75% of them wihin 2, 613 days. 2) As for length of stay P50, asylums showed the length of stay within 2,303 days for the half of selected samples: 483 days for private mental hospitals and they showed very long-term hospitalization compared to university hospital(20 days), general hospitals(41 days), private psychiatric clinics(45 days) and national mental hospitals(83 days). 3) As for length of stay according to age distributions, the older the patients were, length of stay showed the longer. 4) Among the length of stay at P50 according to diagnoses, mental retarded patients were the longest hospitalization group in private hospitals(707 days) and small psychitric inpatient units(below 30 beds, 166 days). But schizophrenics were the longest hospitalization group(2, 560 days) at asylums. 5) Length of stay at P50 according to medical security had great differences between the medical aid group and medical insurance group, especially in asylum(2,461 days vs. 1,715 days) and mental hospitals(615 days vs. 271 days). From the above results, the authors propose that for diminishing the length of stay policy, Korean mental health system should develop new rehabilitation programs for acute symptom relieved schizophrenic patients. In addition, the treatment for the younger mentally-ill patients should be more active and intensive.