Discharge Against Medical Advice in the Pediatric Wards in Boo-ali Sina Hospital, Sari, Iran 2010

Introduction: Since children neither comprehended nor contribute to the decision, discharge against medical advice is a challenge of health care systems in the world. Therefore, the current study was designed to determine the rate and causes of discharge against medical advice. Methods: This descriptive cross-sectional study was done by reviewing the medical records by census method. Data was analyzed using SPSS software and x^2 statistics was used to determine the relationship between variables. The value of P 0.05 was considered significant. Results: Rate of discharged against medical advice was 108 (2.2%). Mean of age and length of stay were 2.8±4 (SD).3 years old and 3.7±5.4 (SD) days, respectively. Totally, 95 patients (88.7%) had health insurance and 65 (60.2%) patients lived in urban areas. History of psychiatric disease and addiction in 22 (20.6%) of the parents were negative. In addition, 100 (92.3%) patients admitted for medical treatment and the others for surgery. The relationship of the signatory with patients (72.3%) was father. Of 108 patients discharged against medical advice, 20 (12%) were readmitted. The relationship between the day of discharge and discharge against medical advice was significant (ρ =0/03). Conclusion: Rate of discharge against medical advice in Boo-ali hospital is the same as the other studies in the same range. The form which is used for this purpose did not have suitable data elements about description of consequence of such discharge, and it has not shown the real causes of discharge against medical advice.