Andrew C Page1, Geoffrey R Hooke. 1. School of Psychology, University of Western Australia, 35 Stirling Highway, Crawley, WA 6009, Australia. andrew@psy.uwa.edu.au
Abstract
BACKGROUND: Kecskés et al. [J. Affect. Dis. 73 (2003) 279] reported a possible effect of season and gender on the length of hospital stay among inpatients with a unipolar depression. METHODS: The effects of season and gender upon the length of stay and clinical outcomes among 1283 inpatient admissions with unipolar depression diagnosed according to ICD-10 were examined. RESULTS: Males had shorter length of stay but no better outcomes. There was no evidence of shorter lengths of stay for either gender in summer. CONCLUSIONS: The present study failed to replicate the effect of season and gender on the length of stay in hospital among inpatients with unipolar major depression. LIMITATIONS: The clinical outcomes were based upon a single item from the Health of the Nation Outcome Scales (HoNOS).
BACKGROUND: Kecskés et al. [J. Affect. Dis. 73 (2003) 279] reported a possible effect of season and gender on the length of hospital stay among inpatients with a unipolar depression. METHODS: The effects of season and gender upon the length of stay and clinical outcomes among 1283 inpatient admissions with unipolar depression diagnosed according to ICD-10 were examined. RESULTS: Males had shorter length of stay but no better outcomes. There was no evidence of shorter lengths of stay for either gender in summer. CONCLUSIONS: The present study failed to replicate the effect of season and gender on the length of stay in hospital among inpatients with unipolar major depression. LIMITATIONS: The clinical outcomes were based upon a single item from the Health of the Nation Outcome Scales (HoNOS).