OBJECTIVE: To determine the frequency of patients leaving against medical advice (LAMA) in an inpatient psychiatric facility in Rawalpindi, Pakistan. STUDY DESIGN: Descriptive cross-sectional study. PLACE AND DURATION OF STUDY: Institute of Psychiatry, Benazir Bhutto Hospital, Rawalpindi, from August 2010 to February 2011. METHODOLOGY: Patients who got admitted during study period irrespective of duration of illness and mode of admission were recruited through non-probability consecutive sampling and followed till discharge to determine their mode of leaving hospital. A thirteen-item proforma was developed and information was obtained on demographic, socioeconomic, patient related and disease related variables. Descriptive statistics were calculated on SPSS 14. RESULTS: The total number (n) of participants was 246. Among the participants, 96 (39%) left against medical advice (LAMA) whereas 150 (61%) left on regular discharge on physician's advice. Frequency of patients who left against medical advice was found to be more in males (63.5%), younger age groups (21 - 30 years), lesser educated (more than half were under matric) and with the ICD-10 diagnosis of substance abuse (23.9%). About half of patients who LAMA had a prior history of psychiatric illness and a significant number (37.5%) had a history of previous psychiatric admission. CONCLUSION: Leaving against medical advice is a frequent problem in psychiatric inpatients and is a matter of great concern for the treating doctors.
OBJECTIVE: To determine the frequency of patients leaving against medical advice (LAMA) in an inpatient psychiatric facility in Rawalpindi, Pakistan. STUDY DESIGN: Descriptive cross-sectional study. PLACE AND DURATION OF STUDY: Institute of Psychiatry, Benazir Bhutto Hospital, Rawalpindi, from August 2010 to February 2011. METHODOLOGY:Patients who got admitted during study period irrespective of duration of illness and mode of admission were recruited through non-probability consecutive sampling and followed till discharge to determine their mode of leaving hospital. A thirteen-item proforma was developed and information was obtained on demographic, socioeconomic, patient related and disease related variables. Descriptive statistics were calculated on SPSS 14. RESULTS: The total number (n) of participants was 246. Among the participants, 96 (39%) left against medical advice (LAMA) whereas 150 (61%) left on regular discharge on physician's advice. Frequency of patients who left against medical advice was found to be more in males (63.5%), younger age groups (21 - 30 years), lesser educated (more than half were under matric) and with the ICD-10 diagnosis of substance abuse (23.9%). About half of patients who LAMA had a prior history of psychiatric illness and a significant number (37.5%) had a history of previous psychiatric admission. CONCLUSION: Leaving against medical advice is a frequent problem in psychiatric inpatients and is a matter of great concern for the treating doctors.
Authors: Obada Hasan; Muhammad Adeel Samad; Hamza Khan; Maryam Sarfraz; Shahryar Noordin; Tashfeen Ahmad; Gul Nowshad Journal: Int J Health Policy Manag Date: 2019-08-01