Activities of Irish psychiatric units and hospitals 2016,1 the annual report published by the Mental Health Information Systems Unit of the Health Research Board, shows that the number of new admissions to inpatient care for alcohol disorders has stabilised.

In 2016, some 1,260 cases were admitted to psychiatric facilities with an alcohol disorder, of whom 445 were treated for the first time. Figure 1 presents the rates of first admission between 1996 and 2016 for cases with a diagnosis of an alcohol disorder. The admission rate in 2016 was similar to the previous year, while trends over time indicate an overall decline in first admissions. Just under one-third of cases hospitalised for an alcohol disorder in 2016 stayed just under one week, while 28% of cases were hospitalised for between one and three months, similar to previous years.

In 2016, some 943 cases were admitted to psychiatric facilities with a drug disorder. Of these cases, 415 were treated for the first time. Figure 2 presents the rates of first admission between 1996 and 2015 of cases with a diagnosis of a drug disorder. Although the rate decreased slightly in 2016, there has been an overall increase in the rate of first admission with a drug disorder since 2011. It should be noted that the report does not present data on drug use and psychiatric comorbidity, so it is not possible to determine whether or not these admissions were appropriate.

Other notable statistics on admissions for a drug disorder in 2016 include the following:

• Just over one-half of cases hospitalised for a drug disorder stayed under one week (52.6%), while 99% were discharged within three months. It should be noted that admissions and discharges represent episodes or events and not persons.
• 14% of first-time admissions were involuntary.

Similar to previous years, the rate of first-time admissions was higher for men (12.2 per 100,000) than for women (4.9 per 100,000).

1    Daly A and Craig S (2016) Activities of Irish psychiatric units and hospitals 2016. Dublin: Health Research Board. http://www.drugsandalcohol.ie/27659/