ABSTRACT
OBJECTIVES: In an attempt to identify the demographic characteristics and the factors influencing long-term hospitalization of chronically mentally-ill patients, a survey on the chronically mentally-ill patients who had been staying longer than 1 year in mental health facilities was conducted. METHODS: Checklist including some demographic data that were regarded as independent variables was applied to 3,477 subjects through administration system of Pusan Metropolitan City. Statistical analyse were done using distribution-free, non-parametric tests. RESULTS: 1)Subjects who had been staying longer than 1 year were 70.7% of the total inpatients of mental health facilities, and median duration of their hospitalization was 5.5 years. 2)In mental hospitals and asylums, the ratio of chronically mentally-ill subjects to the total inpatients in each facilitiy was 46.3% and 95.1%, respectively. 3)All of the 10 independent variables had an influence on the hospitalization duration. CONCLUSIONS: These results indicated that many indirect, extramedical factors had an influence the long-term hospitalization of chronically mentally-ill patients, and it is likely to reflect the underdevelopment of mental health services in Korea.