A psychiatric unit in a general hospital in Brazil: predictors of length of stay.

The planning and organization of mental health care in developing countries frequently lacks empirical data. The World Health Organization recommended psychiatric brief inpatient programs in general hospitals for these countries as a cost-effective alternative to the traditional mental hospital. Length of hospital stay is a crucial factor in a cost-effective mental health care organization. In a newly organized psychiatric inpatient unit in a general teaching hospital in Brazil we investigated the influence of 16 socio-demographic and clinical variables on the length of stay. Distance from residence to hospital (P less than 0.10), clinical diagnosis (P less than 0.05) and religious affiliation (P less than 0.05) were significantly related to length of stay. Possible mental health care implications of this short stay program are discussed.