Factors Associated with Readmission of Psychiatric Patients to the Mental Health Unit in Jinja Regional Hospital.

Abstract

Readmission of inpatients has been one of the most important problems in the field of psychiatry for the last decades. The problem has a major role in reducing the quality of life and increasing the years of lost life. About 14% of the global burden of disease is attributable to mental disorders and are projected to reach 15% by the year 2020.Even in sub-Saharan Africa, mental disorders account for nearly 10% of the total burden of disease. A case control study design was adopted by to investigate the factors associated with psychiatric readmission of patients to Mental Health Unit in Jinja Regional Referral Hospital. A sample of 98 cases and 98 controls were selected using a convenience sampling technique. A pre tested semi structure questionnaire was used to collect data which was analyzed using bivariate and multi variate analysis. The findings revealed that lack of drugs (<0.001), no history of aggression (p=0.013), no history of suicide (p=0.004), substance abuse (p=0.015) were significantly associated with psychiatric readmission of patients. The findings suggest need for increased funding to mental health units to ensure adequate and constant supply of drugs to patients. Offer psycho education to the patients and public about the effect of substance abuse, positive coping mechanism to minimize on the cases of readmission.