A psychiatric patient is not necessarily admitted to a hospital (PH or PDGH) in his or her region. For example, it is possible that a patient living in the Flemish Region is admitted to a hospital in the Brussels Capital Region. Hospitals that structurally attract a large number of patients from outside their area could have a greater need for hospital beds as a result.
Number of stays in PH and PDGH
per region of residence of the patient
and per region in which the hospital is located (2018)[1]
In which region does a patient choose their hospital?
(shown by the region of the patient's place of residence)
In which region is the patient's place of residence?
(shown by the region in which the hospital is located)
Most of the patients are hospitalised in a hospital within their region. In the Brussels Capital Region, almost one quarter of the patients come from outside the region. The proportion of Flemish or Walloon patients is almost the same.
If Brussels patients are admitted outside the Brussels Capital Region, 8.8% of them go to the Walloon Region and 4.6% to the Flemish Region.
Of the patients from the Walloon Region, 3.6% are hospitalised in the Brussels Capital Region and 2% in the Flemish Region.
Fewer than 2.5% of Flemish patients are hospitalised outside the Flemish region.
More information about patient flows: www.health.belgium.be
[1] We can see that 1.5% of the patients who were admitted to a psychiatric unit in a PH or PDGH have no known, or no Belgian, place of residence. Each region admits an equal share of this group.
A diagnosis in the event of psychiatric hospitalisation is rarely unequivocal. There is usually a combination of problems. If we take the primary diagnoses of patients in PH and PDGH as the basis, we find that problems related to the use of alcohol and other psychoactive substances are the most common. This is also the most common secondary diagnosis. A primary diagnosis of a depressive disorder is the next most common primary diagnosis.
Besides the observation that there are proportionally more admissions to PDGH for depressive disorders, we can see that the top 10 problems for which people are admitted to a PH or PDGH are similar.[1]
Primary diagnosis upon admission of patients to psychiatric services
for adults in PH and PDGH (2018)[2]
| PH | PDGH |
We can observe a clear difference between the problems that occur in men and women. If we take a closer look at the two most common primary diagnoses (Problems related to the use of alcohol and other psychoactive substances and depressive disorders), we see that substance-related problems primarily occur in men, while the depressive disorders are primarily diagnosed in women.
Occurrence of primary diagnoses by gender in psychiatric services
for adults in PH and PDGH (2018)[3]
| Men | Women |
We can also see that certain pathologies occur more frequently depending on the age of the patient. Problems predominantly affecting children and young people[4] are most commonly diagnosed in the youngest age groups, whereas delirium, dementia, amnestic and other cognitive disorders are primarily diagnosed in the age group 65 years and older. The primary diagnosis of bipolar disorder is more common in patients of middle age and older.
Occurrence of primary diagnoses by age in psychiatric services
for adults in PH and PDGH (2018)
More information on diagnoses made during admission to PH or PDGH: www.health.belgium.be
[1] Cluster A personality disorders includes paranoid, schizoid and schizotypal personality disorders, cluster B includes borderline, anti-social, narcissistic and histrionic personality disorders and cluster C includes dependent, avoidant and obsessive-compulsive personality disorders
[2] Stays for which the main condition of the patient is not known, have not been taken into account.
[3] Stays for which the the main condition and the sex of the patient are not known, have not been taken into account.
[4] This group includes developmental disorders, autism, attention deficit and behavioural disorders, relationship disorders and other child psychiatric problems.