[Trends in length of stay of psychiatric inpatients based on "patient survey"].

The average length of occupancy for psychiatric beds in Japan has been pointed out to be among the longest in the world. However, neither the average length of occupancy since admission of psychiatric resident patients present at a facility at a given point of time (e.g. at the end of every October) nor the average length of stay of psychiatric patients until discharge have been reported in national health statistics. Using data from the "Patient Survey (1974-1984, 1987)" by the Ministry of Health and Welfare, estimates of trends for 1) length of hospitalization since admission of resident patients at the end of every October and 2) length of hospital stay from admission to discharge in patient cohorts admitted each year from 1974 to 1984, were determined. A remarkable difference in distribution was observed in the length of hospitalization in psychiatric residents and length of stay until discharge. For psychiatric residents surveyed at the end of October 1987, 13% had been resident for less than 3 months, 27% within one year, and 54% within 5 years. On the other hand, 33% of the patient cohort admitted in 1984 were discharged within one month, 59% within 3 months, and 85% within one year. Six percent of the cohort, however, had remained hospitalized for more than 3 years, some of whom were potential 'new' long-stay patients. The proportion of patients staying more than ten years shows an increase from 17% in 1974 to 30% in 1987, with the distribution of length of hospitalization in residents demonstrating a definite shift to increased length. On the other hand, length of stay until discharge shows a slight shortening.