[Characteristics of elderly patients admitted to the psychiatric ward of a general hospital].

S J Tsai, J P Hwang, C B Sim
{"title":"[Characteristics of elderly patients admitted to the psychiatric ward of a general hospital].","authors":"S J Tsai,&nbsp;J P Hwang,&nbsp;C B Sim","doi":"","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>The rapid growth of the over 65 population in Taiwan during recent decades has brought into focus the planning to provide health care for aged citizens. It is generally agreed that the incidence of mental disorders rises with age. With the stress on rapid treatment and early return to community, the concept of short-term hospitalization for the geropsychiatric patients has become more accepted. In this study we examined characteristics, diagnostic classification and treatment outcomes of 524 consecutive patients (age > or = 65) admitted to the geropsychiatric unit of a general hospital over a 5-year period. Results demonstrated that 45.9% of the patients had organic mental disorders. Among them, almost half of the patients were diagnosed as having dementia; delirium was the second most common diagnosis. The average length of stay was 26.7 days for all patients and it was not affected by diagnostic subtype. No significance was found in the length of stay between the geropsychiatric inpatients and the other psychiatric inpatients. Outcomes measure showed favorable response to hospitalization in most of these patients. These data suggested that there is a specific diagnostic distribution in the geropsychiatric inpatients. Rigorous organic work-up in these patients is necessary to rule out organic problems. The favorable response after short-term hospitalization indicated the restorative and rehabilitative functions of the general hospital geropsychiatric care. The hospital's fears of being burdened with a chronic population could be lessened with a suitable referral system. Further study is needed to explore whether early geropsychiatric intervention may obviate the need for admission or reduce the length of stay.</p>","PeriodicalId":12495,"journal":{"name":"Gaoxiong yi xue ke xue za zhi = The Kaohsiung journal of medical sciences","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0000,"publicationDate":"1995-08-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Gaoxiong yi xue ke xue za zhi = The Kaohsiung journal of medical sciences","FirstCategoryId":"1085","ListUrlMain":"","RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":null,"ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"","JCRName":"","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0

Abstract

The rapid growth of the over 65 population in Taiwan during recent decades has brought into focus the planning to provide health care for aged citizens. It is generally agreed that the incidence of mental disorders rises with age. With the stress on rapid treatment and early return to community, the concept of short-term hospitalization for the geropsychiatric patients has become more accepted. In this study we examined characteristics, diagnostic classification and treatment outcomes of 524 consecutive patients (age > or = 65) admitted to the geropsychiatric unit of a general hospital over a 5-year period. Results demonstrated that 45.9% of the patients had organic mental disorders. Among them, almost half of the patients were diagnosed as having dementia; delirium was the second most common diagnosis. The average length of stay was 26.7 days for all patients and it was not affected by diagnostic subtype. No significance was found in the length of stay between the geropsychiatric inpatients and the other psychiatric inpatients. Outcomes measure showed favorable response to hospitalization in most of these patients. These data suggested that there is a specific diagnostic distribution in the geropsychiatric inpatients. Rigorous organic work-up in these patients is necessary to rule out organic problems. The favorable response after short-term hospitalization indicated the restorative and rehabilitative functions of the general hospital geropsychiatric care. The hospital's fears of being burdened with a chronic population could be lessened with a suitable referral system. Further study is needed to explore whether early geropsychiatric intervention may obviate the need for admission or reduce the length of stay.

[综合医院精神科住院老年患者的特点]。
近几十年来,台湾65岁以上人口的快速增长,使得为老年人提供医疗保健的规划成为重点。人们普遍认为,精神障碍的发病率随着年龄的增长而上升。随着人们对快速治疗和早日回归社区的重视,老年精神病患者短期住院治疗的观念越来越被人们所接受。在这项研究中,我们检查了524名连续患者(年龄>或= 65岁)的特征、诊断分类和治疗结果,这些患者在5年的时间里住进了一家综合医院的老年精神科。结果显示45.9%的患者存在器质性精神障碍。其中,几乎一半的患者被诊断患有痴呆症;谵妄是第二常见的诊断。所有患者的平均住院时间为26.7天,不受诊断亚型的影响。老年精神科住院患者与其他精神科住院患者的住院时间差异无统计学意义。结果测量显示,大多数患者对住院治疗反应良好。这些数据提示老年精神科住院患者存在特定的诊断分布。对这些患者进行严格的器质性检查是必要的,以排除器质性问题。短期住院后的良好反应表明综合医院老年精神病学护理的恢复和康复功能。医院对慢性病患者负担的担忧可以通过合适的转诊系统来减轻。需要进一步的研究来探讨早期老年精神病学干预是否可以避免住院或缩短住院时间。
本文章由计算机程序翻译,如有差异,请以英文原文为准。
求助全文
约1分钟内获得全文 求助全文
来源期刊
自引率
0.00%
发文量
0
×
引用
GB/T 7714-2015
复制
MLA
复制
APA
复制
导出至
BibTeX EndNote RefMan NoteFirst NoteExpress
×
提示
您的信息不完整,为了账户安全,请先补充。
现在去补充
×
提示
您因"违规操作"
具体请查看互助需知
我知道了
×
提示
确定
请完成安全验证×
copy
已复制链接
快去分享给好友吧!
我知道了
右上角分享
点击右上角分享
0
联系我们:info@booksci.cn Book学术提供免费学术资源搜索服务,方便国内外学者检索中英文文献。致力于提供最便捷和优质的服务体验。 Copyright © 2023 布克学术 All rights reserved.
京ICP备2023020795号-1
ghs 京公网安备 11010802042870号
Book学术文献互助
Book学术文献互助群
群 号:481959085
Book学术官方微信