Factors affecting readmission of adolescent mental healthcare users to a psychiatric hospital.

Abstract

Adolescent mental illness is increasing worldwide, leading to more admissions to psychiatric institutions. Many adolescents may require multiple readmissions, which is disruptive to their holistic well-being and costly for the healthcare sector. Identifying especially modifiable risk factors for readmission remains an important step in providing potential areas for improving patient care. This study investigated the risk factors associated with the readmission of adolescent mental healthcare users to a specialist psychiatric unit. The specialist adolescent unit at Weskoppies Psychiatric Hospital. In this retrospective study, the clinical files of 345 adolescents admitted between 2015 and 2019 were reviewed. The primary outcome variable was readmission, that is, whether a patient was readmitted to Weskoppies Hospital (n = 98) compared to those with no recorded readmission (n = 247). Readmitted adolescents were significantly younger on first admission compared to the non-readmitted group (13.46 vs 14.26, p = 0.016). Bivariate analysis showed that the readmitted group had a much higher rate of non-adherence to treatment (38.1% vs 10.5%, p = < 0.001). Patients with a family history of mental illness had a significantly higher risk of readmission (52.2% vs 37.5%, p = 0.015). Adolescents were more likely to be readmitted if they had first admission at a younger age, a family history of mental illness or non-adherence to treatment. Identifying especially modifiable risk factors for readmission of adolescents to improve patient care, particularly in the South African context where there is a paucity of research on this topic.