Dear frankdirect-ga:
Whew! This one was hard to find, but I think I succeeded. At
http://hcup.ahrq.gov/HCUPNet.asp you’ll find a searchable database of
diagnoses by hospital discharge by state for the years 1997-2000. (The
data are for discharges rather than admissions, but I think that
should work. Patients can’t get out if they don’t get in, right?)
The database can be searched by major categories or by specific
diagnostic codes. I’ll let you decide which you want to use. The
search strategy also allows for sorting by age, sex, etc. The data
source is the Healthcare Cost and Utilization Project. The main site
for the project is http://www.ahcpr.gov/data/hcup/hcupnet.htm.
Lots of web sites give generalities, but this one provides the
specifics you require. Right? I hope so.
Your number-crunching friend,
eloise-ga |
Request for Answer Clarification by
frankdirect-ga
on
21 Oct 2002 09:05 PDT
Eloise-Ga
I appreciate the effort, but this is not the answer to the question.
Discharges include patients who have been in the system for a long
time. First admissions is a marker for the incidence of the disease
at a particular point in time. Also, the time series from 1997 - 2000
is not long enough.
frankdirect-ga
|
Clarification of Answer by
eloise-ga
on
22 Oct 2002 10:48 PDT
Dear frankdirect-ga:
Having struck out so far on the net (I'm still trying however), I
decided to go about this the old-fashioned way. I sent some queries to
experts who publish in the field of mental health epidemiology. I have
received what I think may be a very helpful response from Professor
Holzer at the University of Texas Medical Branch. He writes:
"I'll try to help but probably need to know more about what you are
doing.
"Probably the best academic resource is William W Eaton at Johns
Hopkins Dept of Mental Hygiene.
"Evelyn Bromet at SUNY Stonybrook has a wonderful study of the
characteristics of Schizophrenics and has looked at which are first
admission and first treatment.
"There is a case register from Monroe County New York.
"Older studies often reported first admissions to state hospitals when
the state hospitals were almost the only source of care. All that
changed so many schizophrenics never get to hospital, stay only
briefly, or get a diagnosis that isn't just "Schizophrenia'.
"Determining first admission for schizophrenia is difficult because
the patient may not be a good informant and they may have been treated
previously in another system, public or private. Experience here in
Texas and elsewhere is that the state data systems don't ascertain
"first admission" as an attribute, although they try to ascertain
first admission to their system..
"I have to go now but would be willing to have a longer conversation
on the topic.
Charles E. Holzer III, Ph.D., Professor
Dept. of Psychiatry, Room 5.202 RSH
The University of Texas Medical Branch
301 University Boulevard
Galveston, Texas 77555-0189
Phone:409-747-8362 Fax:409-747-8364
CHOLZER@UTMB.EDU
Would you like to follow up with professor Holzer? I could, but I
might not ask the right questions.
I really hope we can resolve this one to your satisfaction.
eloise-ga
|
Clarification of Answer by
eloise-ga
on
23 Oct 2002 13:20 PDT
Here's another reply, this one from Dr. Bromet at Stony Brook. How
would you like me to proceed?
I don't think there are state data. The office of mental health has a
database that contained "first admission" but it meant first
admissions to
state facilities -- or at least they used to. But these weren't
necessarily first admissions -- just the first time somebody got
admitted
to a state facility. NIMH might have some national estimates that you
could use. Have you gone to the NIMH website?
Evelyn
***************************************
Evelyn J. Bromet, Ph.D.
Professor of Psychiatry
SUNY Stony Brook
Putnam Hall-South Campus
Stony Brook, NY 11794-8790
phone 631 632-8853; fax 9433
evelyn.bromet@stonybrook.edu
|
