Work

Veteran Characteristics Associated With Risk of 30-Day Inpatient Mental Health (IMH) Readmissions

Year: 2025

Type: article

Abstract: Repeated admissions to psychiatric inpatient services affect patients' quality of life and may be indicative of the quality of care received during the previous inpatient admissions and/or follow-up outpatient care. Therefore, identifying patient characteristics associated with higher risk of readmission is critical to facilitate appropriate inpatient and follow-up outpatient care to reduce readmissions. In this study, we investigated veteran socio-economic and clinical characteristics associated with the odds of 30-day readmission to Veterans Health Administration Inpatient Mental Health services. Logistic regressions were performed on the total study cohort (N = 88,954), and four sub-groups defined by aggregated principal diagnoses. Our findings suggest that the risk of a 30-day readmission increased for veterans who had a principal diagnosis of schizophrenia or other psychotic disorder, had co-occurring physical and mental health comorbidities, and were at risk of experiencing homelessness. We also found consistently lower readmission rates among non-Hispanic black veterans. Our data is limited to associative relationships, but future work should investigate potential mechanisms including quality of inpatient services and follow-up outpatient care and identity-specific barriers to receiving care.

Source: Psychiatric Quarterly

DOI: 10.1007/s11126-025-10128-8

Authors: Alexander J. Duman, Suja S. Rajan, Michelle Winkler

Institution: The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston

Language: English

Topic: Psychiatric care and mental health services

Subfield: Clinical Psychology

Field: Psychology

Domain: Social Sciences

SDG: Good health and well-being

Open Access status: hybrid

Estimated APC paid: $5,190