Length of hospital stay of medical and surgical inpatients referred for psychiatric consultation: a retrospective study.

Retrospective analysis of 406 consecutive psychiatric consultations with general hospital inpatients revealed that their mean length of stay (LOS) was 26.1 days, while the mean LOS of the other hospital patients was only 11.1 days. In 36.5 percent of the consultation patients the LOS in hospital was longer than that exceeded by 10 percent of the hospital patients. The factor most strongly related to a very long LOS of psychiatric consultation patients appeared to be the referring ward. Particularly on cancer wards very long LOS patients were referred to the psychiatrist. The psychiatric consultant often supported the ward staff by making recommendations for the management of such patients. Patients with a long LOS might be a suitable group for carrying out a controlled cost-effectiveness study of psychiatric consultations in a natural setting.