Readmission to an acute psychiatric unit within 28 days of discharge: identifying those at risk

To examine factors that could help identify those most at risk of readmission to an acute psychiatric in-patient unit within 28 days of a discharge.

A detailed file audit was conducted comparing 54 consecutive patients who had been readmitted within 28 days of discharge with 61 patients, chosen at random, who had not been readmitted during the same period.

Readmission within 28-days of discharge was associated with having been admitted in the previous year (P = 0.004), receiving the Disability Support Pension (P = 0.015), not having a discharge plan sent to the patient's GP on discharge from the index admission (P = 0.05), receiving follow-up by the mental health team within 7 days of discharge (P = 0.007) and being unemployed (P = 0.015).

Targeting those with previous admissions for focussed discharge planning may help organisations reduce the numbers of unnecessary early readmissions.