Characteristics of borderline personality disorder admissions to private psychiatric hospitals

Inpatients diagnosed as having borderline personality disorder (BPD) by DSM-III criteria who were admitted to 11 Central Neuropsychiatric Hospital Association (CNPHA) hospitals in 1982 and 1983 are described in terms of 28 clinical-history and demographic characteristics. This study statistically compared 181 BPD inpatients to 1,121 non-BPD inpatients admitted to the same hospitals during the same period as part of the broader CNPHA prospective outcome study. These BPD inpatients were also compared to other BPD samples described in the literature. The 1982-83 CNPHA BPD inpatients exhibited clinical and demographic characteristics significantly different from their non-BPD counterparts. These BPD inpatients, mostly female, may have had particularly difficult living situations, had extensive treatment histories that began early, were frequently self-destructive, and had a distinctive medication pattern, among other characteristics. Comparison to other BPD samples in the literature showed similarities, supporting the generalizability of the CNPHA prospective outcome study.