Hospital admission as first-contact with a community-based psychiatric service

✍ Scribed by C. Faccincani; G. Mignolli; P. Munk-Jørgensen

• Publisher: Springer-Verlag
• Year: 1987
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 328 KB
• Volume: 236
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 1433-8491
• DOI: 10.1007/bf00383857

✦ Synopsis

The aim of this study was to understand the decision to hospitalize at the first contact, rather than utilize the other services of a community-based system of care Using the South Verona Psychiatric Case Register, 46 first-contact patients admitted to hospital were compared to all other in-patients (n = 187) over a 2-year span with respect to socio-demographic characteristics, diagnosis (ICD-9) and symptoms (on the Present State Examination Syndrome Check List).

Results suggested that first-contact hospitalized patients have significantly more neurotic depressive features Alternatives to admission were investigated in only about one-third of depressive neurosis patients, compared to two-thirds of patients with other affective disorder diagnoses In contrast, for patients with psychoses, admission is a second choice (except for patients with organic psychoses).