RT Journal
A1 Husted JR
T1 POpulation density and rehospitalization for the seriously and persistently mentally ill
JF Archives of General Psychiatry
JO Archives of General Psychiatry
YR 1999
FD March 1
VO 56
IS 3
SP 285
OP 285
DO 
UL http://dx.doi.org/
AB 
The measure of success in these studies, usually the yearly rate of rehospitalization, were almost always several times higher than were the rates in the aforementioned rural Minnesota outcome study. What I have found is a direct correlation between low population density and low rates of rehospitalization of individuals with chronic mental illness. The rate of rehospitalization for the entire state of Minnesota in 1996 was 31% (Minnesota Department of Human Services, St Paul). All 3 counties that participated in the rural Minnesota study had lower population densities and lower rehospitalization rates than the statewide numbers. The most populous county, with 34,000 people, has a population density of 47.2 persons per square mile and a rehospitalization rate of 23.6% per year. The middle county, with 10,600 people, has a population density of 18.3 persons per square mile and a rehospitalization rate of 18.4% per year. The smallest and most rural county, with 6200 people, has a population density of 12.7 persons per square mile and a rehospitalization rate of 2.6% per year.