The READMIT index is not suitable for Danish major depression patients.

With 36 well-known predictors it was not possible to reliably predict readmission.

After treatment for major depression 8% of patients were readmitted within 30 days.

When discharging patients, identifying those with a high risk of short-term readmission is crucial, as these readmissions may disrupt patient recovery and increase healthcare costs. The READMIT risk index has been developed to address this need across all psychiatric diagnoses. However, a broad model might not be applicable to specific diagnoses, e.g., major depressive disorder.

We aimed to investigate the predictive validity of the READMIT risk index in a cohort of Danish patients suffering from major depression, and to develop an alternative prediction model for the risk of readmission within 30 days.

Based on national register data, we included 24,984 patients discharged from a Danish psychiatric hospital after treatment for major depression. The proportions of patients who experienced readmission within 30 days were 8% (n = 1969) with major depression, 13% (n = 3343) with any psychiatric diagnosis, and 19% (n = 4718) with all-cause readmission. For readmission related to major depression, the predictive performance of the READMIT index, defined as area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUC), was 0.48 (95% CI:0.47; 0.49), whereas the prediction model developed in this study showed an AUC of 0.58 (95% CI:0.57; 0.59).

Neither the READMIT risk index nor a newly developed alternative prediction model based on individual-level variables, achieved an acceptable AUC, i.e., 0.70 or above, and were therefore not able to appropriately predict the risk of readmission within 30 days for patients with major depressive disorder. However, organizational factors and factors related to capacity in the Danish psychiatric system could potentially improve the results.

Prediction

Major depressive disorder

30-Day readmissions

Psychiatric readmissions

© 2026 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.