The number of people admitted to Irish psychiatric facilities for treatment dropped by 5 per cent last year, it emerged today.
The Health Research Board (HRB) revealed there was no decline in the numbers admitted non-voluntarily to units or hospitals at 11% of the 21,253 admitted during 2005.
Dr Dermot Walsh, principal investigator at the HRB, said: "The commencement of part three of the Mental Health Act (2001) on 1 November 2006 has introduced the independent review of detention of involuntary patients. It will be of considerable interest to determine whether this development will reduce the proportion of patients admitted involuntarily in future years."
The annual report of Activities of Irish Psychiatric Units and Hospitals 2005 found there were 62 admissions to children's centres in 2005. Three-quarters of these involved children between 14 and 16 years-old.
Around 36 per cent of children were admitted with depressive disorders, 16% had eating disorders and 11 per cent were diagnosed with schizophrenia and neuroses.
Divorced people had the highest rate of all admissions at 947 per 100,000 of the population aged 16 or over.
Depressive disorders accounted for almost one-third of all admissions at 31 per cent, schizophrenia accounted for a fifth, alcoholic disorders for 14 per cent and mania for 13 per cent.
Re-admissions accounted for 72 per cent of all admissions to the facilities. Men represented just over half of all those taken for treatment at 51 per cent Around 49 per cent of all admissions in 2005 were to general hospital psychiatric units, 32 per cent were to psychiatric hospitals and 19 per cent were to private hospitals.
There were 21,265 discharges and 229 deaths in Irish psychiatric units and hospitals in 2005.
In Tallaght Hospital 42.5 per cent of discharges took place within one week of admission compared with 23.2 per cent in Limerick Regional.
Around 30 per cent of all admissions were from Health Service Executive regions of Dublin mid-Leinster, 27 per cent were from south, 22 per cent were from west and 21 per cent were from Dublin north-east.
The HSE South had the highest rate of all admissions, while the HSE West had the lowest numbers.
"The report reveals wide variations in admission rates between counties," Dr Walsh said. "This is clearly demonstrated in three of the most common types of diagnosis; alcohol disorders, schizophrenia and depression."
The rate of first admissions for those with alcoholic disorders was approximately 12 times higher in Wicklow at 87.3 per 100,000 than in Monaghan at 7.5 per 100,000.
Dr Walsh said: "These differences most likely reflect contrasting styles of clinical and diagnostic practice, rather than variations in the prevalence of these conditions between counties. In some instances they may indicate a greater reliance on hospitalisation rather than the use of community-based services."
PA