Study of Factors Influencing the Length of Hospital Stay of Patients with Anxiety Disorders

Background: Anxiety disorders are the most common groups of mental disorders. Based on the world health organization reports 7.4% of global DALYs are caused by disorders, which are in the mental and behavioral category. One of the problems of these patients is the length of stay in the hospital, which can be studied in various aspects. Objectives: The objective of this study was to determine the effects of related factors on the duration of hospitalization in patients with anxiety disorders. Methods: A historical cohort of patients placed in the psychiatric center in Sari, northern Iran, were studied from April 2007 to March 2012. Statistical analysis usingWeibull regression and stata.12 was performed at the significant level of 0.05. Results: A total of 427 persons were studied. The median length of hospital stay was 17 (inter quartile range 10 - 29 day). The results showed age was associated with the length of stay (P = 0.036). Also, patients with previous hospitalization and patientswhoreceived electro convulsive therapy and occupational therapy had a longer stay in the hospital (P < 0.001). Conclusions: The overall results showed that the type of treatment is effective in reducing the duration of hospitalization. Aging has a subtractive effect on the length of hospital stay. It seems that additional research concerning mental health care services may be required to identify more factors affecting the length of stay.