Inpatient census 2022: parts one and two

3. All patients treated in NHS Scotland facilities (Summary)

• 59% of patients in the 2022 Census were male, among those aged 18 - 39 years this increased to 68% of patients
• Improvements made in recording ethnicity data have been reversed. The majority of patients (73%) identify as white Scottish
• Most patients (66%) in the 2022 Census did not have any dependents

This section summarises demographic information for all patients occupying a mental health, addiction and learning disability bed in NHS Scotland at the 2022 Census. More detailed information on specific groups; adults (18+), children and young people (<18) and forensic patients, follows in later sections.

The majority of patients in the 2022 Census were male (59%) and this proportion has changed little since the 2016 Census, fluctuating only by one percentage point. The difference is most pronounced for those aged 18-39 years where 68% are male. There is almost an equal number of males amd females in the 65+ age category (50% male versus 50% female) however, 87% of patients under 18 years of age were female

• Most patients were aged 65 or over (35%) or between 40 to 64 years (37%) and this pattern has changed little since the 2016 Census. However, there has been a small decrease in the proportion of 65 and overs since 2016 of 6 percentage points.
• The average (mean) age of a patient in the 2022 Census was 56 years old, a slight decrease on the average of 57 years in the 2016 Census.

• The most common reason for admission in the 2022 Census was therapeutic/clinical crisis (32% of patients). A further 12% were admitted for diagnostic reasons, while 7% were admitted for rehabilitation.
• The reporting of ethnicity data in the 2022 Census has worsened slightly in comparison to the improvements in reporting that were seen in the 2019 Census. In 2016, ethnicity data for 7% of patients was returned as “refused or not known”, this dropped to 3% in the 2019 Census. However, in the 2022 Census, this has increased again to 5%.
• The majority of patients (73%) identified as white Scottish in the 2022 Census, a seven percentage point decrease from 2019. An additional 19% of patients identified as Other White. Asian, Asian Scottish or Asian British patients made up 2% of the 2022 Census. African, African Scottish or African British patients made up a further 1%.
• More than half (55%) of patients in the 2022 Census had never been married nor registered in a civil partnership. This proportion is a two percentage point increase on the 2019 Census.
• Most patients (66%) in the 2022 Census did not have any dependents. However, 6% of patients had a working age adult dependent and a further 3% had at least one child dependent. There were 17% unknown.
• In the 2022 Census, 33% of patients were retired, an eight percentage point decrease from 2016. This change likely reflects the change in age demographics described above. The proportion of patients who were unemployed was 48% in the 2022 Census, an increase of one percentage point since 2019. A further 8% of patients were not allowed to work, while 1% were students.