الفهرس 
AcknowledgementOnly 14 pages are availabe for public view
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Abstract
In recent years, health workers have shown a growing interest in the heavy users of mental health services. Of the heavy users researchers considered those patients with prolonged hospitalization and patients with repeated hospitalization.This research aimed at study of the discharge and readmission phenomena with the purpose of proliding health administrators with the required data for planning of comprehensive mental health services. A retrospective cohort study was carried out based on the records of patients admitted to Maamoura Mental Hospital from January fIrst 1981 to 31 December, 1990. The total study cohort amounted to 5681 first admissions and 14972 readmissions. Data concerning first admissions was analyzed using a life table technique to compute the different probabilities of discharge and readmission of patients admitted to Maamoura Mental Hospital. Factors affecting length of first admission were analyzed by stepwize multiple regression analysis and those affecting readmission within one year and within one month were studied using a stepwize Cox-regression analysis. Time series analysis was performed to study the trend and seasonal variation of admissions to Maamoura Mental Hospital. The results of the present study revealed the following: Among the flrst admission cohort, the probability of being discharged alive was maximum during the interval 1-<2 months after admission (39.5) and about 2of the starting cohort remained continuously in hospital for one year.