The authors compared correlates of admission for 100 patients older than
18 years and 100 patients younger than 18 evaluated in a psychiatric
emergency service. Stepwise linear logistic regression analysis identified
a combination of variables that best predicted the odds of hospitalization
for each group. For adolescents, these variables, in order of importance,
were suicidal tendencies, physical abuse, a primary diagnosis of
schizophrenia, age, and number of suicide attempts. For adults, the
variables were delusions, aggressive behavior, suicidal tendencies, and a
primary diagnosis of schizophrenia or affective disorder. The authors
discuss the implications of these findings for acute psychiatric treatment
of adolescents.
Abstract Teaser