Psychotherapy and the Length of Hospitalization in the Patients With Mental Disorders: A 2-Year Follow-up Study

Abstract

Background: Psychotherapy is a process in which the therapist tries to use the best methods to help the patients with mental disorders to improve symptoms, increase quality of life, social functioning, and self-esteem and reduce the length of hospitalization in psychiatric wards. Objectives: The current research aimed to examine the effect of psychotherapy services on the length of hospitalization in the patients with mental disorders. Patients and Methods: This experimental study, in which a pretest and posttest were employed to examine the experimental and the control groups, was conducted in a psychiatric hospital. In both experimental and control groups, the length of subjects’ hospital stay one year before and one year after providing the psychiatric services was measured. Chi-Square test and analysis of variance were used to analyze the differences between the groups. Statistical analysis was performed using SPSS software, version 19, and P < 0.5 was considered as significant. Results: Results of the current study showed a significant difference between the two groups regarding the length of hospitalization; findings indicated that the length of hospitalization was virtually different in the studied population after the intervention (P < 0.05). Conclusions: Psychotherapy interventions can reduce the length of hospitalization in the patients with mental disorders.