Number of patients who are again unexpectedly admitted to hospital after a previous hospitalization are used to evaluating the quality of hospital care. Readmission can be represented by the total number and by readmission rate.

Understanding the risk factors that can lead to readmission is a factor for the development of interventions that can improve the quality of care.

The purpose of this study was to examine number and predictors of psychiatric readmission within 14 days, 30 days and, 3 and 6 months.

In this retrospective study, analyses were conducted in a sample of 566 discharge adult patients who were admitted to a Psychiatric Hospital of Sarajevo Canton from 1st January to 31st December 2013.

Total number of readmission was 14%. The readmission rate within 30 days was 2.8%, number of readmission quarterly was 9.1%, number of readmission within 6 months after discharge was 13%.

In the study, several factors were significantly associated with increased risk of readmission including non-compliance with drug treatment, social problems, aggressiveness, suicidality.

Our study suggesting that the prevention of psychiatric readmission requires continuous multidisciplinary work with patients and family members.

The authors have not supplied their declaration of competing interest.