Associations of psychosocial factors, knowledge, attitudes and practices with hospitalizations in internal medicine divisions in different population groups in Israel.

Comorbidity burden was the main risk factor of hospitalizations in internal medicine divisions. Psychosocial factors, such as self-rated health, a complex variable affected by social capital, mental wellbeing, the number of offspring, and perceived burden and difficulty, seem also to contribute. These findings suggest the involvement of broad family and social factors, beyond individual level characteristics and medical needs, in hospitalizations in internal medicine divisions. Interventions to reduce hospitalizations should be comprehensive and integrate aspects of mental health wellbeing; they should build on familial characteristics (e.g., number of offspring), factors related to social capital such as self-rated health, and perceived burden and difficulty.