SHBC1080
L.T.NG1, T.J.GOH2
James Cook University Singapore1, Institute of Mental Health2
Revolving-door admissions of Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) individuals increase hospitalization and service burden. We review patients with ASD admitted to a child and adolescent psychiatric ward in Singapore to identify factors predicting patterns of admissions.
Twenty-seven ASD patients (Mage = 15.14 years old, SD = 3.08) were admitted 56 times between 2015 and 2016. Data such as demographics, admission reasons, medications, severity scores, length of stay, number of admissions and co-morbidities, was retrieved from the medical records database. Discriminant Function Analysis was conducted.
Correlation analysis indicated ‘father’s age at first admission’ and the ‘number of medications at discharge’ were significant variables to be included for analysis. Regression analysis revealed that the two variables accounted for 69.1% of the variance in patterns of admissions, R2 = .69, adjusted R2 = .65, F (2,16) = 17.9, p < .001. The discriminant function significantly differentiated and explained 100% of variance, Wilks’ Lambda = .31, Chi-square (2) = 18.80, p < .001. Canonical correlation is 0.83, with 69.1% of variances explained by the relationship between predictors and group membership, with father’s age at first admission (.74) and number of medications upon discharge (-.25), significantly differentiating between the two groups. Cross-validated classification showed that 89.5% were correctly classified.
Our results indicated that father’s age at first admission and the number of discharge medications are significant factors that predict readmissions of ASD patients. Further analysis on the impact of parental stress, and severity of ASD presentation is necessary.
