Methodology for screening assessment of the presence of hospitalism in patients of gerontopsychiatric hospital

Summary. The aim of the study was to identify nosologically nonspecific signs of hospitalism in patients of a gerontopsychiatric hospital and to develop, on their basis, a method for screening diagnostics of hospitalism.
Materials and methods. We examined 194 inpatients aged 55 to 91 years, hospitalism was detected in 102 people, 92 people made up the comparison group. The survey was carried out at the stage of preparation for discharge in the form of a semi-structured interview, supplemented by the collection of anamnestic and follow-up data.
Results. The most common signs of hospitalism in this sample were the deterioration of the mental and somatic state before discharge (78% of the examined patients of the main group, a confidence interval (CI) of 68–85%), a long duration of the current hospitalization (73%, CI 64–82%), violations of compliance (73%, CI 63-81%), long duration of inpatient treatment in anamnesis (71%, CI 61-80%), deterioration soon after discharge (67%, CI 52-80%), a large number of hospitalizations during the entire period of illness (67%, CI 57-76%), lack of discharge intention (62%, CI 51-72%), tendency to increase the duration of hospitalizations (54%, CI 43-64%), high level of anxiety before discharge (50% , CI 34-66%), reduction in the intervals between hospitalizations (49%, CI 38-59%), p <0.05.
Conclusion. The proposed methodology is intended for screening assessment of the presence of hospitalism and identification of the circle of persons for whom an in-depth assessment of social and psychological adaptation is advisable in order to prevent the adverse effects of hospitalization.

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