Psychiatric admissions in Malta : demographics and diagnoses

Abstract

Background: The decision to hospitalize a patient exhibiting signs of psychiatric distress is made as a last resort after outpatient management has failed. The rising number of admissions also has an effect on costs burden within the national health system. This audit is set to determine the main psychiatric reasons for admission to hospital in Malta and analyze demographics, source of referrals and mental health act status whilst comparing such result to those abroad. ---

Methods: Data from admissions between the 15th October 2018 till the 1st March 2019 was collected, using a recently established electronic database system. Details including; age, sex, nationality, type of admission (new case versus readmission), mental health act status and reason for admission were collected. ---

Results: 300 patients admitted to Mount Carmel hospital during the stated period. Roughly 2 male patient were admitted for every female. 75.3% of the cohort were of Maltese nationality. The majority of foreign patient were European, 14%, followed by African, 8.3%, Asian and American. The most common sources of referrals were casualty at 40%, followed by those from general practitioners at 26.7%. ---

Conclusion: Reasons for admission were most commonly, substance abuse(15.3%), depression (15%) and acute psychosis (13.3%), following similar trends across Europe. Methods to decrease unnecessary referrals include better training of emergency doctors and general practitioners. Additionally, recent implementation of a 24 hour on call crisis service should provide better acute management of patients and help to prevent saturation of inpatients with cases that can handled in the community.