Characteristics of persons served by private psychiatric hospitals, United States: 1986

Abstract

Overall about 71,000 persons were under care in the inpatient, outpatient, and partial care programs of private psychiatric hospitals in the United States on April 1, 1986, and about 300,000 persons were admitted to these programs during 1986. Inpatient programs served the largest number of people, 223,851; outpatient programs served 133,217; and partial care programs served a much smaller population, only 13,541. The relative distribution of persons admitted, versus persons under care, differed considerably by type of program. Although the number of those admitted was larger than the number of those under care for both inpatient and outpatient programs, the difference between the two populations was much more pronounced within inpatient programs (chart A). Most of the persons admitted to private psychiatric hospitals in 1986 were admitted to inpatient programs, 207 thousand or 69 percent of all admissions, while most of those under care were outpatients, 47 thousand or 66 percent of all those under care on a single day. Children and youth under age 18 comprised the largest percentage of persons under care in inpatient programs, while persons in the 25-44 age group comprised the largest percentage of those admitted to inpatient programs. Approximately 41 percent of all persons under care in inpatient programs were under 18 years of age, compared with only 20 percent of all persons admitted to inpatient programs. The large number of children and youth found in the population under care within inpatient programs indicates the high median length of inpatient stay for persons within this age group (41 days compared with 24 days overall). Children and youth and the 25-44 year group each represented over one-third of those admitted to outpatient programs. The 25-44 age group made up the largest percentage of persons under care in outpatient programs and among those admitted to partial care programs. Among those under care within partial care programs, differences among age groups were not statistically significant. Of persons admitted to partial care programs, 92 percent had a history of some type of prior mental health treatment; for those admitted to inpatient and outpatient programs, the corresponding percentages were 70 percent and 48 percent, respectively. Affective disorders were a frequently occurring diagnostic grouping, comprising almost half of all persons admitted to and under care in inpatient programs, approximately one-third of those admitted and those under care in partial care programs, and around one-fourth of those admitted to and under care in outpatient programs.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)