@article{MAKHILLRJMS20093211669,
    title = {Correlates of Length of Stay among Psychiatric In-Patients in a Tertiary Health Institution in Nigeria},
    journal = {Research Journal of Medical Sciences},
    volume = {3},
    number = {2},
    pages = {56-61},
    year = {2009},
    issn = {1815-9346},
    doi = {rjmsci.2009.56.61},
    url = {https://makhillpublications.co/view-article.php?issn=1815-9346&doi=rjmsci.2009.56.61},
    author = {O.A. Adegunloye,A.D. Yussuf,P.O. Ajiboye,B.A. Issa and},
    keywords = {Pattern,correlates,length of stay,psychiatric-in-patients,tertiary health institution,Nigeria},
    abstract = {There seems no much information about the patterns of Length of Stay (LOS) in Psychiatric admissions and its associated factors in this environment and it could be a window into measures of efficiency of in-patient care and quality of care. The aim is to describe the pattern of Length of Stay (LOS) and ascertain possible associations between Psychiatric diagnoses and other socio-demographic factors among in-patients of a psychiatric facility in a Nigerian University Teaching Hospital. It was a retrospective case-file study of all admissions and discharges, in the psychiatric in-patient ward of University of Ilorin Teaching Hospital (UITH), between May, 2000 and April, 2005. The data generated was analyzed with SPSS version 11 to obtain frequency distributions and chi-square figures. The level of statistical significance was set at 5%. Within the study period, 502(63.6%) of the 789 records of admitted cases were analysed. 61.0% of the patients stayed on admission for about 30 days (4 weeks) (mean length of stay±SD was 23±19.1days). About 51.8% of the total admissions were females, 68.5% were in the age group 20-40 years, 58.0% were singles and 36.1% were students. The most frequent diagnosis was schizophrenia, 55.0 and 58.6% of the patients had first episode of psychiatric illness. Length of Stay (LOS) was significantly correlated with marital status and first episode psychiatric illness. A good social support may shorten the length of stay on psychiatric admission, hence, provision of good psycho-educations for all patients and their families as well as effective relapse prevention for first episode of psychiatric illnesses are highly recommended.}
    }