Minimum and optimal numbers of psychiatric beds: expert consensus using a Delphi process.

Journal: Molecular psychiatry

Volume: 27

Issue: 4

Year of Publication: 2022

Affiliated Institutions:  Facultad de Medicina, Universidad Diego Portales, Santiago, Chile. adrian.mundt@mail.udp.cl. Facultad de Medicina, Universidad Diego Portales, Santiago, Chile. Ministry of Health, Republic of Chile, Santiago, Chile. Department of Psychiatry, Western University, London, ON, Canada. Department of Psychiatry, College of Medicine and Public Health, Flinders University, Adelaide, SA, Australia. Visiting Clinical Professor Department of Psychiatry Monash University Wellington Road, Clayton, , Australia. Department of Psychiatry School of Medicine, Mulago Hospital, Makerere University College of Health Sciences, Kampala, Uganda. Department of Psychology, Stellenbosch University, Stellenbosch, South Africa. Psychiatry and Medical Psychology, Chuvash State University, Cheboksary, Russian Federation. Department of Psychiatry, American University of Beirut, Beirut, Lebanon. Department of Psychiatry, Hanyang University College of Medicine, Seoul, Republic of Korea. Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA. Unit for Social and Community Psychiatry (WHO Collaborating Centre for Mental Health Service Development), Queen Mary University of London, London, United Kingdom.

Abstract summary 

The required minimum number of psychiatric inpatient beds is highly debated and has substantial resource implications. The present study used the Delphi method to try to reach a global consensus on the minimum and optimal psychiatric bed numbers. An international board of scientific advisors nominated the Delphi panel members. In the first round, the expert panel provided responses exploring estimate ranges for a minimum to optimal numbers of psychiatric beds and three levels of shortage. In a second round, the panel reconsidered their responses using the input from the total group to achieve consensus. The Delphi panel comprised 65 experts (42% women, 54% based in low- and middle-income countries) from 40 countries in the six regions of the World Health Organization. Sixty psychiatric beds per 100 000 population were considered optimal and 30 the minimum, whilst 25-30 was regarded as mild, 15-25 as moderate, and less than 15 as severe shortage. This is the first expert consensus on minimum and optimal bed numbers involving experts from HICs and LMICs. Many high-income countries have psychiatric bed numbers that fall within the recommended range. In contrast, the number of beds in many LMIC is below the minimum recommended rate.

Authors & Co-authors:  Mundt Adrian P AP Rozas Serri Enzo E Irarrázaval Matías M O'Reilly Richard R Allison Stephen S Bastiampillai Tarun T Musisi Seggane S Kagee Ashraf A Golenkov Andrei A El-Khoury Joseph J Park Seon-Cheol SC Chwastiak Lydia L Priebe Stefan S

Study Outcome 

Source Link: Visit source

Statistics
Citations :  World Health Organization. Mental Health Atlas 2017. https://www.who.int/publications/i/item/9789241514019 (2018). Accessed 1 Jan 2022.
Authors :  13
Identifiers
Doi : 10.1038/s41380-021-01435-0
SSN : 1476-5578
Study Population
Male,Female
Mesh Terms
Consensus
Other Terms
Study Design
Cross Sectional Study
Study Approach
Country of Study
Publication Country
England