Length of stay is a crucial metric in healthcare management, reflecting the duration a patient occupies a hospital bed. According to the Kenya National Commission of Human Rights, around 25% of outpatients and 40% of inpatients are affected by mental health disorders. Kisumu County Referral Hospital (KCRH) is a key provider of mental healthcare services in western Kenya. However, there is a lack of robust data analysis regarding patient flow and length of stay within the psychiatric unit. This study intended to fit a Kaplan-Meier survival model to the length of stay data for psychiatric patients at KCRH. The study used monthly secondary data covering 2018 to 2022, obtained from psychiatric patients’ records at Kisumu County Referral Hospital using a secondary data capture form. The study found the overall median survival time was 8 days. There was no difference in length of time to discharge between males and females (p = 0.66).
Cite this paper
Otieno, H. O. and Mawora, T. (2026). Determining Length of Stay Patterns in Psychiatric Care: A Survival Analysis Approach at Kisumu County Referral Hospital. Open Access Library Journal, 13, e15067. doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.4236/oalib.1115067.
Turgeman, A. and Werner, H. (2017) Mission Control-Combined Solutions for Source Seeking and Level Curve Tracking in a Time-Varying Field. 2017 Ameri-can Control Conference (ACC), Seattle, 24-26 May 2017, 4268-4273. https://doi.org/10.23919/acc.2017.7963611
Memiah, P., Biadgilign, S., Kuhlman, J., Cook, C., Mburia, P., Kingori, C., et al. (2022) Allostatic Load, Sin-gle, and Dual Chronic Conditions: Evidence from the National Health and Nutri-tion Examination Survey. Metabolic Syndrome and Related Disorders, 20, 104-113. https://doi.org/10.1089/met.2021.0008
Dalgleish, T., Black, M., Johnston, D. and Bevan, A. (2020) Transdiagnostic Approaches to Mental Health Problems: Current Status and Future Directions. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 88, 179-195. https://doi.org/10.1037/ccp0000482
Awad, A., Bader-El-Den, M. and McNicholas, J. (2017) Patient Length of Stay and Mortality Prediction: A Survey. Health Services Management Research, 30, 105-120. https://doi.org/10.1177/0951484817696212
Kaplan, E.L. and Meier, P. (1958) Nonparametric Estimation from Incomplete Observations. Journal of the American Statistical Association, 53, 457-481. https://doi.org/10.1080/01621459.1958.10501452
Turkson, A.J., Ay-iah-Mensah, F. and Nimoh, V. (2021) Handling Censoring and Censored Data in Survival Analysis: A Standalone Systematic Literature Review. International Journal of Mathematics and Mathematical Sciences, 2021, 1-16. https://doi.org/10.1155/2021/9307475
Pearlmutter, M.D., Dwyer, K.H., Burke, L.G., Rathlev, N., Maranda, L. and Volturo, G. (2017) Analysis of Emergency Department Length of Stay for Mental Health Patients at Ten Mas-sachusetts Emergency Departments. Annals of Emergency Medicine, 70, 193-202. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.annemergmed.2016.10.005
Bro-derick, C., Azizian, A. and Warburton, K. (2020) Length of Stay for Inpatient Incompetent to Stand Trial Patients: Importance of Clinical and Demographic Variables. CNS Spectrums, 25, 734-742. https://doi.org/10.1017/s1092852920001273
Shahsavaripoor, B., Haghshshenas, M., Ahmadzad-Asl, M., Shariati, B., Naserbakht, M. and Davoudi, F. (2022) Demographic and Clinical Factors Associated with Re-Admission in Patients Admitted to Psychiatric Hospital and Psychiatric Ward of General Hos-pital in 2011: A 7-Year Follow-Up after Discharge. Journal of Iranian Medical Council, 5, 567-579.
Addisu, F., Wondafrash, M., Chemali, Z., Dejene, T. and Tesfaye, M. (2015) Length of Stay of Psychiatric Admissions in a General Hospital in Ethiopia: A Retrospective Study. International Journal of Mental Health Systems, 9, Article No. 13. https://doi.org/10.1186/s13033-015-0006-x
Adegunloye, O.A., Yussuf, A.D., Ajiboye, P.O., Issa, B.A. and Buhari, O.I.N. (2009) Correlates of Length of Stay among Psychiatric In-Patients in a Tertiary Health Institution in Nigeria. Research Journal of Medical Sciences, 3, 56-61.
Brick, A., Walsh, B., Hill, L., Behan, C., Daly, A. and Craig, S. (2024) Determinants of Acute Psychiatric Inpatient Length of Stay in Ireland. Irish Journal of Medical Science, 194, 211-223. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11845-024-03819-x
Jacobs, R., Gutacker, N., Mason, A., Goddard, M., Gravelle, H., Kendrick, T., et al. (2015) Determinants of Hospital Length of Stay for People with Serious Mental Illness in England and Implications for Payment Systems: A Regression Analysis. BMC Health Services Research, 15, Article No. 439. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12913-015-1107-6
