Sociodemographic Factors and Presentation Features of Individuals Seeking Mental Health Care in Emergency Departments: A Retrospective Cohort Study.
Oliver Higgins, Rachel B Sheather-Reid, Stephan K Chalup and 1 others
PMID 39282997WHAT IT FOUND
Most mental health emergency presentations involved suicidal ideation, and many people had previous mental health service contact.
Some left without waiting or against advice, and urgent or semi-urgent triage was common.
Key findings
01Suicidal ideation was the most common mental health presenting problem in these emergency department records.
02Many people who presented had previous mental health service contact, though most were not receiving a service at the time.
03Most presentations were not admitted to an inpatient mental health unit, and some people left without waiting or against advice.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for RNs
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What it does not show
There was no unique person identifier, so repeated presentations could not be separated. The presenting problem field captured the main problem and may miss diagnoses or complex interactions. Coding may vary by site and may misclassify mental health presentations. After-hours presentations that did not go directly to the emergency department were not included. The study describes records and cannot establish why people were admitted or left.
Declared interests
One author is an editorial board member of the journal.
The easy way to misread this
Do not conclude that admission rates, triage categories or departure patterns are clinically optimal. The paper describes records and cannot test whether any service feature improved patient outcomes.