Am J Psychiatry 1984; 141:44-48
Copyright © 1984 by American Psychiatric Association
Episodic rate of mental hospitalization: stable or increasing?
CA Kiesler and AE Sibulkin
It is generally accepted that the national rate of mental hospitalization
has been stable in recent years (at 1.8 million). That conclusion, based
largely on data from the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH),
ignores all inpatient episodes for mental disorders in general hospitals
without psychiatric units. Surveying the more extensive data base, the
authors previously reported a much larger number of inpatient episodes
(about 3 million). This article investigates changes in rates across years
and finds a steady increase from 1965 to 1979. The difference is entirely
attributable to inpatient episodes in general hospitals without psychiatric
units, where the number of episodes has been rapidly increasing.
