Factors Associated with Psychiatric Readmissions: A Systematic Review

Abstract

Frequent Psychiatric Readmission (FPR) (revolving door phenomenon) is characterized by repeated and frequent hospitalizations that occur shortly after discharge. The aim was to analyze the criteria of FPR and associated factors: sociodemographic, clinic and care network data. We performed a systematic review in PubMed, VHL, and PsycINFO, using “readmission” and “mental disorder”. We selected empirical studies of adult populations, published in 2010-2014 in English,Portuguese and Spanish. Twenty-six articles were analyzed through the PRISMA protocol. High prevalence rates of FPR were found, between 9% (one month) and 84% (two years). Nevertheless, the different criteria used may have influenced contradictory results. The most consistent results indicate that young, single people, with less social support and involuntary admissions have higher chances of FPR, while community interventions seem to reduce FPR. We highlight the importance of establishing a consensus on the FPR criterion to develop future studies and interventions.