Socio-economic deprivation and duration of hospital stay in severe mental disorder.

Adults from South Auckland, New Zealand who required acute admission to hospital were followed from admission to discharge. After adjusting for demographic factors, diagnosis, chronicity, severity, consultant psychiatrist and involuntary admission, the length of stay for those from more deprived areas was significantly longer by 7 days than for those from less deprived areas. Information on socio-economic deprivation should be used in discharge planning and in optimising access to community care.

Psychiatric hospitalization: reasons for admission and alternatives to admission in South Auckland, New Zealand.

Objective: To describe reasons for admission and alternatives to admission in a government funded acute inpatient unit.

Method: Reasons for admission and alternatives to admission were rated for a consecutive sample of 255 admissions to an acute psychiatric unit in Auckland, using interviews with staff and case note review.

Result: Most patients had a functional psychosis and were admitted involuntarily.