Factors predicting discharge after two years for inpatients in the psychiatric long-term care wards who can walk independently.

Abstract

[Purpose] The purpose of this study was to investigate the factors that affected the discharge of walkable patients admitted to psychiatric long-term care wards. [Participants and Methods] The participants were walkable patients admitted to psychiatric long-term care wards at three different hospitals in Japan. The baseline assessments of all 73 patients were conducted between September and December 2018. During the 2 year follow-up period, five patients died, while 68 were included in the analysis. The baseline assessment includes the basic information of the participants and the risk of locomotive syndrome. [Results] In the comparisons between the discharged (n=12) and hospitalizing groups (n=56), the age, length of stay, and two-step and stand-up test scores at the baseline assessment were significantly different. The multiple logistic regression analysis, which discriminates between the two groups, adopted age as a significant variable in the baseline assessment as a predictor of dischargeability (odds ratio: 1.08; 95% confidence interval: 1.01, 1.16). [Conclusion] Age was considered to be a discharge likelihood predictor, as it affects the decline in motor function, such as locomotive syndrome, as well as the social resources that would be needed after discharge, such as family support.