The impact of psychiatric comorbidity on the length of hospital stay was
addressed in a study of all medical/surgical patients discharged in 1984
from the Mount Sinai Hospital in New York City (N = 37,370) and
Northwestern Memorial Hospital in Chicago (N = 21,889). At both hospitals
the mean +/- SD length of stay of the patients with psychiatric comorbidity
was significantly longer than that of the other patients: 19.8 +/- 33.3
versus 9.2 +/- 15.3 days at Mount Sinai Hospital and 13.7 +/- 27.7 versus
8.3 +/- 13.2 days at Northwestern Memorial Hospital. Early identification
of patients with psychiatric comorbidity would permit appropriate
psychosocial intervention, which might shorten their hospital stays.
Abstract Teaser