Open AccessModelling the frequency of psychiatric admissions
Author(s) -
McKenzie Dean P.,
Mackin Andrew J.,
Martindale Colin,
Clarke David M.
Publication year - 1998
Publication title -
international journal of methods in psychiatric research
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.275
H-Index - 73
eISSN - 1557-0657
pISSN - 1049-8931
DOI - 10.1002/mpr.43
Subject(s) - negative binomial distribution , poisson regression , poisson distribution , generalized linear model , binomial (polynomial) , statistics , set (abstract data type) , data set , econometrics , statistical model , binomial distribution , psychology , psychiatry , computer science , medicine , mathematics , environmental health , population , programming language
The analysis of readmissions has important implications in psychiatric research, particularly in the areas of emergency‐room administration, diagnostic classification, treatment and policy planning. Although many studies have attempted to evaluate possible predictors of readmission, commonly employed statistical techniques generally ignore the fit of probability distributions of readmissions to the data. One type of probability distribution – the negative binomial – has previously been successfully fitted to readmission data and has been found to give a closer fit than a commonly employed distribution, the Poisson. Employing a form of generalized linear model – negative binomial regression – we extend these findings to another set of readmission data, using readily available statistical software. Copyright © 1998 Whurr Publishers Ltd.