A medium stay unit is a psychiatric hospitalization unit where serious patients are admitteded, basically those with psychosis and affective disorders. The complexity of the pathology extends the average stay of hospitalization with an average of 60 days to improve.

The general profile of patients in a medium stay unit is characterized by:

• • Psychotic and affective disorders that need longer hospitalization.

• • Disorders that are resistant to treatment and need specific strategies.

• • Patients that give up the treatment.

• • Patients that require sessions of electoconvulsive therapy.

It is analyzed, retrospectively, all admission to a medium stay unit in 2007 and described the clinical and sociodemographical features of each patient entering the unit.

209 people enter the unit in 2007, most of them single and in average they are 47 years old. The relation between men and women is similar.

The 65% of the patients agree about being hospitalized with an average stay in hospital of 54 days.

Schizophrenia is the most frequent diagnosis, followed by Major Depression.

The 56% of the patients are referred to an outpatients' department.

What we observed in our study fits in with the general profile of patients that entered a medium stay unit.