Geographical mobility is predictor of demand on psychiatric services

High rates of geographical mobility among psychiatric patients may be one of the mainreasons for unexpected high demands on hospital beds and services, according to new research.

A study of severely mentally ill patients in London found that 28% of inpatients changed address at least once in the 12 months before admission, with 13% changing more thanonce. In the two years before hospitalisation, 39% had changed addresses.

The report of the research, by a team at Imperial College School of Medicine and the Institute of Psychiatry, says that the geographically mobile …