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Repetition of hospital-treated self-poisoning and admission to psychiatric hospital are both common in individuals who self-poison. To evaluate efficacy of postcard intervention after 5 years. A randomised controlled trial of individuals who have self-poisoned: postcard intervention (eight in 12 months) plus treatment as usual v. treatment as usual. Our primary outcomes were self-poisoning admissions and psychiatric admissions (proportions and event rates). There was no difference between groups for any repeat-episode self-poisoning admission (intervention group: 24.9%, 95% CI 20.6-29.5; control group: 27.2%, 95% CI 22.8-31.8) but there was a significant reduction in event rates (incidence risk ratio (IRR) = 0.54, 95% CI 0.37-0.81), saving 306 bed days. There was no difference for any psychiatric admission (intervention group: 38.1%, 95% CI 33.1-43.2; control group: 35.5%, 95% CI 30.8-40.5) but there was a significant reduction in event rates (IRR = 0.66, 95% CI 0.47-0.91), saving 2565 bed days. A postcard intervention halved self-poisoning events and reduced psychiatric admissions by a third after 5 years. Substantial savings occurred in general hospital and psychiatric hospital bed days.

Although psychiatrists working with adolescents know that sometimes they need to be hospitalised in emergency, few studies have described the hospitalisation of adolescents in adult psychiatric wards. We aimed to estimate the prevalence of adolescents hospitalised in adult psychiatric wards (characteristics, gender comparison, subtypes). We conducted a monocentric retrospective study in the largest psychiatric hospital in France. All patients aged 15 to <18 years hospitalised in adult psychiatric wards were included, with different variables: socio-demographic and family information, history of inpatient / outpatient treatment, clinical data (like ICD-10 diagnoses, care pathway before / after hospitalisation…). We included 332 hospitalisations (70 % girls), representing 2.8 % of all psychiatric hospitalisations. For 37 hospitalisations (11.1 %), this was the first psychiatric contact; for 54.2 %, patients had no previous psychiatric hospitalisation, for 87.3 %, patients had previous outpatient treatment. Mood disorders was the diagnosis for 47 % of the admissions, suicide attempts and suicidal ideation accounted for 69 % of the clinical situations leading to hospitalisation. Boys and girls differed significantly on many variables. Cluster analyses revealed two subgroups: cluster 1 patients (62 %) more frequently were girls, had previous hospitalisations in child psychiatry, came from home, had suicide attempts / suicidal ideation, had personality disorders, whereas cluster 2 patients (38 %) more frequently had substance use disorders, psychotic episodes, clastic crisis / hetero-aggression, longer hospital stays. Emergency admission of an adolescent with psychiatric issues to an adult psychiatric ward is not uncommon, especially in the context of a suicidal crisis or psychotic episode. Our results suggest the need for establishing unscheduled hospital beds for such adolescents. •Very few studies described hospitalisations of adolescents in adult psychiatric wards.•Emergency hospitalisation of an adolescent with adults is frequent (2.8 % in the largest French hospital).•The context of these hospitalisations is mainly a suicidal crisis or a psychotic episode.•There are significant gender differences, and two clusters of patients are identified.•Specific and unscheduled hospital beds are needed for such adolescents.

Purpose The aim of this post hoc analysis was to examine self-reported recovery following a post-discharge intervention and to focus on the moderators of this intervention programme. Methods RCT using parallel group block randomisation, including 151 patients with ≤3 hospitalisations within the last 3 years, a GAF score ≤60, and aged 18–64 years, assessed at two psychiatric hospitals from Zurich, Switzerland, between September 2011 and February 2014. In the present study, the main outcome was the OQ-45 as assessed prior to discharge from the index hospitalisation and at 12-month follow-up. Participants received either the post-discharge intervention provided by a social worker or treatment as usual (TAU). Results Patients in the intervention group showed substantially less recovery over the 12-month observation period than controls ( d  = 0.44). In the TAU group, 15.6 % remained clinically impaired at 12-month follow-up as opposed to 48.1 % in the intervention group ( p  = 0.001). Among participants in the intervention group, an interdisciplinary meeting of significant network members was associated with less recovery ( d  = 0.46). Involuntary index admission ( d  = 0.42) and high educational degree ( d  = 0.52) were significant moderators of the intervention. Both factors related to less recovery over time in the intervention group relative to TAU. Conclusions According to the OQ-45, this psychosocial post-discharge intervention revealed an unintended negative effect on self-reported recovery over time. Specifically, the meeting of significant network members related to a moderate deteriorating effect, suggesting that the involvement of some carers, relatives, or friends may cause harm to the patient. Considering with reservation pending replication, these findings could have important implications for brief interventions targeted at patients’ social networks. Funding This study was supported by a private foundation. Trial registration ISRCTN58280620.

Psychiatric hospitals often represent the main and sometimes only treatment option available for people with mental disorders.1 This treatment model contradicts the balanced-care model, which suggests that a comprehensive mental health system needs to include and integrate outpatient community care, acute in-patient care in general hospitals and community-based residential care.2 In Italy, the transition from a hospital-based system of care to a model of community mental health care started in 1978 with a reform that led to the gradual closing of psychiatric hospitals. According to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) database, suicide rates have remained stable in Italy: in 1978 there were 7.1 suicides per 100 000 population, while in 2012 there were 6.3 suicides per 100 000 population.5 Third, decreasing the total number of psychiatric beds does not lead to increased compulsory admissions. According to the few available data, in 1980 there were 1424 psychiatric patients placed in forensic psychiatric hospitals; in 1987 there were 977 and in 2012 there were 1264.7 In 2016, after the phasing out of forensic psychiatric hospitals, there were 541 individuals placed in new residential facilities providing intensive mental health care to socially dangerous individuals with mental disorders.

Short-term structured risk assessment is presumed to reduce incidents of aggression and seclusion on acute psychiatric wards. Controlled studies of this approach are scarce. To evaluate the effect of risk assessment on the number of aggression incidents and time in seclusion for patients admitted to acute psychiatric wards. A cluster randomised controlled trial was conducted in four wards over a 40-week period (n = 597 patients). Structured risk assessment scales were used on two experimental wards, and the numbers of incidents of aggression and seclusion were compared with two control wards where assessment was based purely on clinical judgement. The numbers of aggressive incidents (relative risk reduction -68%, P<0.001) and of patients engaging in aggression (relative risk reduction RRR = -50%, P<0.05) and the time spent in seclusion (RRR = -45%, P<0.05) were significantly lower in the experimental wards than in the control wards. Neither the number of seclusions nor the number of patients exposed to seclusion decreased. Routine application of structured risk assessment measures might help reduce incidents of aggression and use of restraint and seclusion in psychiatric wards.

Background A number of recently published randomized controlled trials conducted in developed countries have reported no advantage for assertive interventions over standard care models. One possible explanation could be that so-called \"standard care\" has become more comprehensive in recent years, incorporating some of the salient aspects of assertive models in its modus operandi. Our study represents the first randomised controlled trial assessing the effect of a modified assertive treatment service on readmission rates and other measures of outcome in a developing country. Methods High frequency service users were randomized into an intervention (n = 34) and a control (n = 26) group. The control group received standard community care and the active group an assertive intervention based on a modified version of the international model of assertive community treatment. Study visits were conducted at baseline and 12 months with demographic and illness information collected at visit 1 and readmission rates documented at study end. Symptomatology and functioning were measured at both visits using the PANSS, CDSS, ESRS, WHO-QOL and SOFAS. Results At 12 month follow-up subjects receiving the assertive intervention had significantly lower total PANSS (p = 0.02) as well as positive (p < 0.01) and general psychopathology (p = 0.01) subscales' scores. The mean SOFAS score was also significantly higher (p = 0.02) and the mean number of psychiatric admissions significantly lower (p < 0.01) in the intervention group. Conclusions Our results indicate that assertive interventions in a developing setting where standard community mental services are often under resourced can produce significant outcomes. Furthermore, these interventions need not be as expensive and comprehensive as international, first-world models in order to reduce inpatient days, improve psychopathology and overall levels of functioning in patients with severe mental illness.

Background: Understanding the area-specific resource use of inpatient psychiatric care is essential for the efficient use of the public assistance system. This study aimed to assess the geographical variation in psychiatric admissions and to identify the prefecture-level determinants of psychiatric admissions among recipients of public assistance in Japan. Methods: We identified all recipients of public assistance who were hospitalized in a psychiatric ward in May 2014, 2015, or 2016 using the Fact-finding Survey on Medical Assistance. The age- and sex-standardized number of psychiatric admissions was calculated for each of the 47 prefectures, using direct and indirect standardization methods. Results: A total of 46,559 psychiatric inpatients were identified in May 2016. The number of psychiatric admissions per 100,000 population was 36.6. We found a 7.1-fold difference between the prefectures with the highest (Nagasaki) and lowest (Nagano) numbers of admissions. The method of decomposing explained variance in the multiple regression model showed that the number of psychiatric beds per 100,000 population and the number of recipients of public assistance per 1,000 population were the most important determinants of the number of psychiatric admissions (R2 = 28% and R2 = 23%, respectively). The sensitivity analyses, using medical cost as the outcome and data from different survey years and subgroups, showed similar findings. Conclusions: We identified a large geographical variation in the number and total medical cost of psychiatric admissions among recipients of public assistance. Our findings should encourage policy makers to assess the rationale for this variation and consider strategies for reducing it.

Violence in acute psychiatric wards affects the safety of other patients and the effectiveness of treatment. However, there is a wide variation in reported rates of violence in acute psychiatric wards. To use meta-analysis to estimate the pooled rate of violence in published studies, and examine the characteristics of the participants, and aspects of the studies themselves that might explain the variation in the reported rates of violence (moderators). Systematic meta-analysis of studies published between January 1995 and December 2014, which reported rates of violence in acute psychiatric wards of general or psychiatric hospitals in high-income countries. Of the 23,972 inpatients described in 35 studies, the pooled proportion of patients who committed at least one act of violence was 17% (95% confidence interval (CI) 14-20%). Studies with higher proportions of male patients, involuntary patients, patients with schizophrenia and patients with alcohol use disorder reported higher rates of inpatient violence. The findings of this study suggest that almost 1 in 5 patients admitted to acute psychiatric units may commit an act of violence. Factors associated with levels of violence in psychiatric units are similar to factors that are associated with violence among individual patients (male gender, diagnosis of schizophrenia, substance use and lifetime history of violence).

Background The length of stay (LoS) in psychiatric facilities is a critical metric for healthcare planning and resource allocation. While previous research has established that LoS distributions are typically right-skewed across medical specialties, detailed characterizations of these distributions within psychiatric settings remain limited, particularly regarding variations across diagnostic categories. Methods We conducted a retrospective cross-sectional analysis of 17,687 psychiatric hospitalizations at the University Hospital of Psychiatry Zurich between 2013 and 2020. Using both linear and logarithmic visualizations, we examined LoS distribution patterns across diagnostic groups based on ICD-10 classifications. Results Following identified distribution patterns, patients could be categorized into short-stay (1–10 days) and long-stay (11–200 days) groups for comparative analysis. LoS distribution demonstrated a bimodal pattern when visualized on a logarithmic scale, with distinct peaks representing short-term crisis interventions and longer therapeutic hospitalizations. This bimodal distribution was particularly evident in anxiety and stress-related disorders and major depressive disorder. Diagnostic categories differed significantly in their LoS-distribution patterns, with schizophrenia spectrum disorders, organic mental disorders, and bipolar disorders more frequently requiring extended hospitalizations. Long-stay patients exhibited higher admission HoNOS scores (median 20 vs. 18) and were significantly older (median 49 vs. 39 years) than short-stay patients. Conclusions Our findings reveal that psychiatric hospitalization durations follow a bimodal rather than simply right-skewed distribution, suggesting two distinct patient populations requiring fundamentally different treatment approaches. This pattern varies systematically across diagnostic categories but transcends diagnostic boundaries, indicating that factors beyond primary diagnosis influence treatment duration. These results support the development of differentiated care structures addressing both acute crisis intervention and extended therapeutic needs within psychiatric care systems.

ObjectiveTo assess the magnitude of suicide rates in the first week and first month postdischarge following psychiatric hospitalisation.DesignMeta-analysis of relevant English-language, peer-reviewed papers published in MEDLINE, PsycINFO or Embase between 01 January 1945 and 31 March 2017 and supplemented by hand searching and personal communication. A generalised linear effects model was fitted to the number of suicides, with a Poisson distribution, log link and log of person years as an offset. A random effects model was used to calculate the overall pooled rates and within subgroups in sensitivity analyses.Outcome measuresSuicides per 100 000 person years in the first week and the first month after discharge from psychiatric hospitalisation.ResultsThirty-four included papers comprised 29 studies that reported suicides in the first month postdischarge (3551 suicides during 222 546 patient years) and 24 studies that reported suicides in the first week postdischarge (1928 suicides during 60 880 patient years). The pooled estimate of the suicide rate in the first month postdischarge suicide was 2060 per 100 000 person years (95% CI=1300 to 3280, I2=90). The pooled estimate of the suicide rate in the first week postdischarge suicide was 2950 suicides per 100 000 person years (95% CI=1740 to 5000, I2=88). Eight studies that were included after personal communication had lower pooled rates of suicide than studies included after data extraction and there was evidence of publication bias towards papers reporting a higher rate of postdischarge suicide.ConclusionAcknowledging the presence of marked heterogeneity between studies and the likelihood of bias towards publication of studies reporting a higher postdischarge suicide rate, the first week and first month postdischarge following psychiatric hospitalisation are periods of extraordinary suicide risk. Short-term follow-up of discharged patients should be augmented with greater focus on safe transition from hospital to community care.PROSPERO registration numberPROSPERO registration CRD42016038169