The British Journal of Psychiatry (2008) 192: 164-165. doi: 10.1192/bjp.bp.107.044719
© 2008 The Royal College of Psychiatrists
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EDITORIALS

The long and the short of it: are shorter periods of hospitalisation beneficial?

Delphine Capdevielle, MD and Karen Ritchie, PhD

French National Institute of Health and Medical Research, INSERM U-888, La Colombière Hospital, 34093 Montpellier Cedex 5, France

Correspondence: D. Capdevielle, French National Institute of Health and Medical Research, INSERM U-888, La Colombière Hospital, 34093 Montpellier Cedex 5, France. Email: delphine.capdevielle{at}free.fr

Declaration of interest

None.

Delphine Capdevielle (pictured) is a psychiatrist working in the University Department of Adult Psychiatry at the CHU de Montpellier and with the French National Institute of Medical Research U-888. Karen Ritchie is a neuropsychologist and epidemiologist and is a research director with the French National Institute of Medical Research.

The politics of shortening hospital stays for people with psychosis has been questioned by a number of studies. Hospital practice in the meantime remains highly variable and the research evidence increasingly difficult to interpret given different conceptualisations of what constitutes effective treatment. In the absence of clearer guidelines from researchers in this area, decisions about duration of hospitalisation risk being driven by economic rather than clinical considerations.


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The long and the short of it: are shorter periods of hospitalisation beneficial?
Ira D Glick
BJP Online, 27 Feb 2009 [Full text]