A new working paper from Statistics Canada contains an assessment of a broad set of factors associated with the acute care hospitalization rates for mental conditions in Canada. The paper includes two main sections:
The first part of the paper examines the overall burden of a mental condition as the most responsible condition (the condition considered most responsible for the hospitalization) and as a comorbid condition (a diagnosed condition other than the most responsible condition) in acute care hospitals in Canada. The paper presents the number of hospitalizations, the number of hospital days and the average length of stay for a hospitalization.
In the second part of the report, health survey and hospital data are linked to describe the socioeconomic and lifestyle factor characteristics of patients who were admitted to an acute care hospital with a mental condition within four years of responding to the health survey.
Some key findings in Part 1 and Part 2 of the report:
- People with a comorbid diagnosis of a mental health condition have on average, a length of stay in hospital that is twice as long as people who are admitted that do not have a comorbid diagnosis. This finding is consistent across many variables such as age, province and major disease type;
- People who have been discharged at least one time from an acute-care hospital with a diagnosed mental condition represent one per cent of the Canadian population but 14.7 per cent of all hospitalized people;
- People in lower income groups and with less than a high school education were at higher risk of being hospitalized with a diagnosis of a mental health condition;
- People who were admitted to hospital with a documented mental condition were also more likely to have had a chronic physical condition and a disability.
To read the report, go to www.statcan.gc.ca.