De Francisco D, Anderson D, Pantano R, Kline F
Hosp Community Psychiatry. 1980 Mar;31(3):196-7. doi: 10.1176/ps.31.3.196.
The average length of stay for patients on the psychiatric service of a large VA hospital in California was nine days in mid-1977. Such brief hospitalizations often led to insufficient discharge planning and rapid readmissions, within one month of discharge. VA policy changed in July 1977, and longer lengths of hospital stay were initiated. The experiences with brief and longer-term hospitalization enabled the authors to study the rapid-readmission rates for each length of stay. Their data showed that an increase in length of stay from nine to 26 days was associated with a 55 per cent reduction in the rate of rapid readmission. They admit that it is too early to conclude that the longer patient stay was responsible for the decrease, and feel that additional longitudinal study is necessary.
1977年年中，加利福尼亚一家大型退伍军人管理局医院精神科患者的平均住院时长为九天。如此短暂的住院治疗常常导致出院计划不完善，患者在出院后一个月内就很快再次入院。退伍军人管理局的政策于1977年7月发生了变化，开始实行更长的住院时长。短期和长期住院治疗的经历使作者能够研究每种住院时长的快速再入院率。他们的数据显示，住院时长从九天增加到26天，快速再入院率降低了55%。他们承认，现在就得出住院时间延长是导致再入院率下降的原因这一结论还为时过早，并认为有必要进行更多的纵向研究。
