WASHINGTON, April 10 (UPI) -- One in four adults admitted to hospitals has a mental health or substance-abuse disorder, a new U.S. report says.
Nearly 8 million of the 32 million hospital stays in 2004 involved depressive, bipolar, schizophrenic and other mental health disorders, according to new research by the Department of Health and Human Service's Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality.
Those disorders are having an impact on community hospitals and government budgets, according to the report.
Only 2 million of the hospital stays involving a mental health disorder were primarily for mental health-related problems. The remainder of patients were hospitalized for another condition, but diagnosed with a mental health problem, complicating their treatment, the report's authors said.
Nearly two-thirds of the cost of care was borne by the government in the form of Medicare, which paid for roughly half, and Medicaid, which paid for 18 percent.
Suicide attempts accounted for only 179,000 of the hospital stays. Of these, 93 percent involved a mental health condition -- most commonly, mood disorders -- and/or substance abuse.
The report is based on 2004 data from the Healthcare Cost and Utilization Project Nationwide Inpatient Sample, the latest data available.
