Patterns of hospital admission for adult psychiatric illness in England: Analysis of Hospital Episode Statistics data

Abstract

Background: The assessment and reporting of national patterns of psychiatric hospital admissions is important for strategic service development and planning. Aims: To investigate patterns of psychiatric hospital admissions of patients aged 16-64 years in England. Method: We used the Department of Health's national Hospital Episode Statistics data on admissions to National Health Service hospitals in England between April 1999 and March 2000, to investigate patterns by region, gender, age and diagnosis. Results: The annual admission rate for England was 3.2 per 1000 population. There were marked regional variations and rates were higher in males than in females. Depression and anxiety togethe..