Socio-demographic characteristics and factors associated with hospitalization in psychiatry of old age patients: an international comparison between Ireland and Turkey.

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND: Taking predictors of hospitalization characteristics into consideration internationally would broaden our understanding of this population on a local basis. AIMS: We aimed to examine and compare socio-demographic profiles along with hospitalization characteristics including length of hospital stay (LOS), reasons for admission and diagnoses among older adult inpatients hospitalized in Ireland and Turkey, and to assess factors predicting these features. METHODS: The admission charts of 356 psychiatric inpatients over 65 years of age who were admitted to two different acute psychiatric hospitals (Sligo/Ireland and Istanbul/Turkey) were analysed by means of descriptive modalities and logistic regression. RESULTS: There were significant differences in several domains of socio-demographics, reasons of admission and diagnoses. LOS was significantly longer in Ireland. Living alone was the only significant predictor for longer LOS in both countries, whereas in addition to living alone, younger age was also a contributor for longer LOS in Turkey. DISCUSSION: Given that the only factor predicting LOS both in Turkey and Ireland was living alone, helping to identify more acceptable ways of providing social support for living arrangements constitutes an important service to shorten LOS in old age psychiatric population. CONCLUSIONS: It is possible to infer that independent from the cultural diversities, living arrangement is a consistent entity to influence length of hospital stay in older adult population.