Aim of the study: We aim to assess the prevalence of psychiatric patients leaving against medical advice (LAMA), the sociodemographic and clinical profiles of the LAMA psychiatric patients, and reasons for LAMA.
Material and methods: An observational cross-sectional study was undertaken for six months extending from April 2019 to September 2019 in the Department of Psychiatry, Gauhati Medical College Hospital, Guwahati, Assam, India. The study used a semi-structured proforma to collect the sociodemographic variables and clinical characteristics according to ICD-10. The data were analysed by descriptive statistics.
Results: Out of the 523 admitted patients during the study period, 60 chose for LAMA. LAMA was more in young adults, men, those from urban region, less educated, admissions through outpatient department (OPD), diagnosis of mental and behavioural disorders due to psychoactive substance use. Majority of LAMA patients left after one day of hospital stay. Dissatisfied with treatment was the commonest reason for LAMA.
Conclusion: In a country with more faith on quacks than modern medicine and a rising expectation of immediate sense of well-being, it was deemed a necessary study to probe more into the issues in order to avoid a revolving door phenomenon. To tackle this problem, prior information constitutes the cornerstone of dealing with this problem.
Keywords: medicine; physicians; psychiatrists; substance abuse.