Psychiatric disorder treated in acute general hospitals: a comparison with psychiatric units and hospitals.

BACKGROUND

The extent to which psychiatric disorders are treated in acute general hospitals is unclear.

AIMS: This study surveyed patients with psychiatric illness as their principal diagnosis treated in Irish Acute General Hospitals and compared their clinical characteristics with those in psychiatric settings.

METHODS

The Hospital Inpatient Enquiry was used to determine the extent to which patients with psychiatric disorders were treated in the non-psychiatric wards of acute public general hospitals and the National Psychiatric Inpatient Reporting System employed to compare their diagnostic characteristics with those treated in psychiatric units and hospitals.

CONCLUSIONS

There were substantial numbers of discharges for alcohol disorders from general hospitals wards and fewer, but not non-negligible, numbers for neurotic disorders, whereas schizophrenia and mania were almost exclusive to psychiatric units and hospitals. A significant number of eating disorders were treated in general hospitals with no increase over the period surveyed.