More and more Pennsylvania residents are being hospitalized for depression, but they are undergoing treatment for shorter periods.

And a significant number of those people are readmitted soon after their release, according to a report released yesterday by the Pennsylvania Health Care Cost Containment Council.

Marc Volavka, executive director of the state agency, said the report also indicated the serious impact that depression has on workplace productivity, noting that many people affected were of prime working age.

Forty-four percent of hospital admissions for depression last year were among people 30 to 49 years old, the report noted.

In 2004, 29.9 people out of every 10,000 state residents were hospitalized with a primary diagnosis of depression, up from 22.9 in 1994, according to the report. The average length of stay, however, has declined from about 13 days in 1994 to 7.5 days in each of the past five years.

Eighteen percent of hospitalizations in 2003 resulted in at least one readmission within 30 days. Of those readmitted, 26 percent returned more than once within 30 days.

Dr. Roger Haskett, a psychiatrist and medical director of adult mood and anxiety services at Western Psychiatric Institute and Clinic, said the increase in hospitalizations reflects greater recognition of depression among medical professionals and a greater willingness of sufferers to seek treatment .

While the trend toward increased treatment is favorable, the fact that many people are readmitted within 30 days suggests that some may have been released too soon, he said.

Many people with depression are treated as outpatients, so those who are admitted tend to be more seriously ill, he said, and often need six to 12 weeks of treatment to have a lasting effect.

Pressure from insurance companies is one factor in the declining lengths of stay, he said.

During the past decade, more than 290,000 people were hospitalized in the state with a primary diagnosis of depression, incurring over $5.2 billion in hospital charges, according to the report.