Nearly One-Third of Inpatient Visits Involve Mental Health and Substance Abuse Disorders

In 2012, 32.3% (8.6 million) of all inpatient hospital stays involved a diagnosis of at least one mental health disorder or substance use disorder, reports a June 2015 statistical brief from the Healthcare Cost and Utilization Project (HCUP). Furthermore, in 6.7% of all inpatient stays (1.8 million) the mental health disorder or substance use disorder was the primary diagnosis. The brief, which presents data from the National Inpatient Sample on adult hospitalizations involving mental health and substance use disorders in 2012, notes that mood disorder was the most common primary diagnosis among mental disorders (741,950 stays) and that alcohol-related disorder was the most common diagnosis among substance use disorders (335,790 stays).