Long-stay patients in Danish psychiatric hospitals

The numbers of long-stay patients in Danish psychiatric hospitals were studied, based on information from the Danish cumulative psychiatric register and from the census studies of patients in Danish psychiatric hospitals, performed at 5-year intervals since 1957. In 1977, 2079 (20%) of the in-patient population which had been admitted before 1957 were still in hospitals. This 'old long-stay' group has diminished exponentially, with an annual reduction of 7%. During the period 1972--6, the number of patients who, on any given day, had been in-patients or attending as day-patients for more than 1 but less than 2 years (the 'new long-stay') varied between 847 and 1089: an average of 20 per 100 000 total population. The ratio of in-patients to day-patients was approximately 4:1. Based on the decline of the 1972 cohort during the period 1972--7, and assuming a constant 'influx' of new long-stay patients and a constant exponential decline of the cohorts, the number of new long-stay patients, including day-patients, at equilibrium was estimated to be about 4300 or 85 per 100 000 total population. About 31% will be schizophrenics and about 43% will be patients with organic disorders. Ninety-four per cent of the number at equilibrium will be reached after 16 years for the diagnostic group with the slowest decline, schizophrenia. On 1 April 1976, 3106 long-stay patients were present, accumulated since 1 April 1972. Nineteen per cent of these patients were in day-hospitals. This type of institution was used especially for younger patients with schizophrenia and reactive disorders.