How many bed-days for an area's psychogeriatric patients?

Data were obtained concerning all admissions during a four-year period of persons aged 65 years and over, from a defined catchment area, to the general hospital psychiatric units in the area or to the nearest psychiatric hospital. The mean length of stay was 41.3 days. Of 449 admissions, 55% were diagnosed as having affective disorder or adjustment disorder with depressed mood, but this group accounted for 65% of the bed-days in the acute units with a mean length of stay of 49.2 days. Dementia cases accounted for 24% of admissions and 23% of bed-days. At present, the recommended number of acute psychogeriatric beds to serve this population of 34,000 elderly is 22; development of a comprehensive psychogeriatric service with appropriate community staffing may make it possible to reduce this number.