Retrospective review: Factors impacting length of stay in Bipolar Disorder at a tertiary hospital.

BACKGROUND

Bipolar disorder (BD) is a chronic, disabling mental illness that may require recurrent hospitalisation. The length of hospital stay (LOS) for BD patients is variable, and literature suggests that this is because of clinical and socio-demographic factors.

AIM

To determine the average LOS for patients admitted for BD at a hospital and its relation to clinical and socio-demographic factors.

SETTING

A public tertiary hospital in South Africa.

METHODS

Clinical and socio-demographic data were obtained from a retrospective record review of patient admissions at a hospital over 1 year. Length of hospital stay, defined as the duration between admission and discharge date, and other variables were retrieved.

RESULTS

A total of 215 patients were admitted during the study period. The mean LOS was 30 days. The mean age of the patients was 35.9 years (standard deviation [s.d.] = 12.4, range 18-72 years). There were similar numbers of males and females admitted. Significantly more patients were not married ( < 0.001), unemployed ( < 0.001), and had a history of substance use ( < 0.001). Employed patients were 2.5 times more likely to have a short stay than those unemployed ( = 0.03). There was a statistically significant association between the number of comorbidities and LOS.

CONCLUSION

The study findings align with the literature's results. The median length of stay was 25 days and was impacted by socio-demographic but not clinical factors.

CONTRIBUTION

The study provided insight into the impact of variable factors in LOS for BD patients.