The annual report published by the Mental Health Information Systems Unit of the Health Research Board, Activities of Irish psychiatric units and hospitals 2021,1 shows that the rate of new admissions to inpatient care for alcohol disorders has decreased.

In 2021, some 758 cases were admitted to psychiatric facilities with an alcohol disorder, of whom 311 were treated for the first time. Figure 1 presents the rates of first admission between 2001 and 2021 for cases with a diagnosis of an alcohol disorder. The admission rate in 2021 was lower than the previous year and trends over time indicate an overall decline in first admissions. Just over one-third (35.2%) of cases hospitalised for an alcohol disorder in 2021 stayed under 1 week, while 29.8% of cases were hospitalised for between 1 and 3 months, similar to previous years.

In 2021, some 976 cases were also admitted to psychiatric facilities with a drug disorder. Of these cases, 410 were treated for the first time. Figure 2 presents the rates of first admission between 2001 and 2021 of cases with a diagnosis of a drug disorder. The admission rate in 2021 was lower than the previous year, although trends over time indicate 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; it is therefore not possible to determine whether or not these admissions were appropriate.

 Source: Daly and Craig, 2022

Figure 1: Rates of psychiatric first admission of cases with a diagnosis of an alcohol disorder per 100,000 population in Ireland, 2001—2021

Source: Daly and Craig, 2022

Figure 2: Rates of psychiatric first admission of cases with a diagnosis of a drug disorder per 100,000 population in Ireland, 2001—2021

Other notable statistics on admissions for a drug disorder in 2021 include the following:

• Just under one-half of cases hospitalised for a drug disorder stayed under 1 week (47.2%), while 99.2% were discharged within 3 months. It should be noted that admissions and discharges represent episodes or events and not persons. 
• 18.8% of first-time admissions were involuntary. 
• Similar to previous years, the rate of first-time admissions was higher for men (13.5 per 100,000 population) than for women (3.8 per 100,000 population).

1    Daly A and Craig S (2022) Annual report on the activities of Irish psychiatric units and hospitals 2021. HRB StatLink Series 10. Dublin: Health Research Board. Available from: https://www.drugsandalcohol.ie/37218/