Fisher S, Stevens R F
Mental Health Program, Peel Memorial Hospital, Brampton, Ontario, Canada.
Psychiatr Serv. 1999 Feb;50(2):244-7. doi: 10.1176/ps.50.2.244.
The study examined demographic and clinical characteristics of frequent users of mental health services at a large community hospital in an urban-suburban area in Canada to identify subgroups within this patient population.
Patients who had had three or more inpatient admissions over any 12-month period between January 1, 1993, and December 31, 1995, were included in the study. Medical records were reviewed to collect summary data on 23 variables encompassing demographic characteristics and admission and discharge information. Quick cluster analysis was performed to identify subgroups within the frequent-user population. Chi square tests and analysis of variance were used to analyze group differences between clusters.
Three patient subgroups accounted for 67 of the 83 patients (80.7 percent) identified as frequent users. Admission patterns were the strongest predictors of subgroup differences.
Identifying subgroups within the frequent-user population may help in developing appropriate treatment and discharge plans with the aim of reducing the need for frequent utilization of inpatient mental health services.
本研究调查了加拿大一个城乡结合部大型社区医院心理健康服务频繁使用者的人口统计学和临床特征，以确定该患者群体中的亚组。
研究纳入了在1993年1月1日至1995年12月31日期间的任何12个月内有三次或更多次住院记录的患者。查阅病历以收集关于23个变量的汇总数据，这些变量涵盖人口统计学特征以及入院和出院信息。进行快速聚类分析以确定频繁使用者群体中的亚组。使用卡方检验和方差分析来分析各聚类之间的组间差异。
在被确定为频繁使用者的83名患者中，三个患者亚组占67名（80.7%）。入院模式是亚组差异的最强预测因素。
确定频繁使用者群体中的亚组可能有助于制定适当的治疗和出院计划，以减少频繁使用住院心理健康服务的需求。
