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

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.