Release and Return Rates for Patients in State Mental Hospitals of Maryland. Psychiatric Case Register Study

A study was made of the patterns of retention, release, and rehospitalization of patients admitted to three Maryland State mental hospitals during the 18-month period July 1, 1961-December 31, 1962. All patients were followed until June 30, 1964--providing an observation period ranging from a minimum of 18 months to a maximum of 36. Selected for inclusion were patients between the ages of 25 and 54 years who were reported with diagnoses of alcoholism, psychoses, psychoneuroses, or personality disorders. In addition to diagnosis, the following patient characteristics were studied: sex, race, marital status, age, level of education, place of residence, type of admission, and number of previous admissions. More than half of the patients in each of the three diagnostic cohorts had been released within 3 months of admission and more than 80 percent within 12 months. At the end of 18 months after release, 45 percent of the psychotics, 45 percent of the alcoholics, and 32 percent of the patients with personality disorders had been rehospitalized.