“…1 All of the patients admitted to the hospitals and referred to psychiatry during a period of 12 consecutive months, between 1993 and 1994, were assessed using an abridged version of the Patient Registration Form (PRF-SF) [7,8], with the necessary alterations according to the Italian cultural context and health service. The instrument consists of 60 items in five main areas: 1) patient's data (e.g., sociodemographic data, psychiatric history, patient's health care status before admission); 2) hospitalization data (e.g., date of admission and discharge, ward, lag-time of request); 3) consultation data (e.g., primary reasons for referral, psychiatric diagnosis at consultation); 4) intervention (e.g., psychological intervention, pharmacological intervention, transfer); and 5) outcome (e.g., formulation of postdischarge plan, death of patient).…”