Effect of transfer of long-stay psychiatric inpatients from hospital to hospital

Background: Chronic psychiatric patients hospitalized in institutions about to be closed are not always fit to be transferred to community-based facilities. The purpose of our study was to investigate how the mental health of a group of such patients was affected by their being transferred to another hospital. Methods: 202 patients were evaluated prior to transfer and six months after the transfer, by means of the Clinical Global Impression (CGI), the World Health Organization (WHO) Disability Scale and the Nurses' Observation Scale for Inpatient Evaluation (NOSIE). Results: On the CGI, half the patients showed evidence of improvement while only 4% seemed to deteriorate. For the NOSIE and WHO Disability Scale, improvement of scores was similarly more common than deterioration. Factors that correlated with improvement included male sex, younger age, and a shorter hospital stay. Limitations: This is a naturalistic study of the effects of transfer which does not include a control group. Conclusion: Institutional transfer of psychiatric patients can be carried out without harm to the patient's welfare, and may even be beneficial.