[Changes in inpatient utilization of a department of child and adolescent psychiatry between 1956 and 1985].

Of the 3142 patients admitted to the unit between 1956 and 1984, the histories of a sample of 766 patients (those from every fourth year) were reviewed with regard to 15 dimensions. Little change was found in social class or family size, whereas there was a marked increase in psychiatric disorders and a considerable decrease in neurological disorders and mental deficiency. The result was an increase in treatment duration, a decrease in the number of admissions and an increase in the proportion of patients readmitted. There were marked variations in the sex ratio over the years, but in 1984 the ratio was again the same as for the total sample (56 boys: 44 girls).