A survey of factors related to mental hospital readmissions

The authors followed up 107 patients selected at random from those discharged from a southern state mental hospital in fiscal year 1972-73. They attempted to differentiate those who were readmitted to the hospital from those who were not on the basis of 52 factors, both personal and environmental, and also compared those who misused alcohol with those who did not. In their sample, 36 of the patients returned to theinstitution, and 71 did not. One of the findings was that in both the total sample and in the nonalcoholic subsample, those readmitted more often received income ffrom sources other than their own employment or the employment of someone in their household. They also tended to be single, separated, or divorced. In both the alcoholic and nonalcoholic subsamples, those readmitted reported more contacts with the community mental health center after their discharge than those not readmitted. In the total sample, the readmitted patients engaged in fewer leisure-time activities and were more likely to report a drinking problem.