ORIGINAL ARTICLE

Disposition of emergency department patients with psychiatric comorbidity: results from the 2004 National Hospital Ambulatory Medical Care Survey

S Kunen^1,2, C Prejean¹, B Gladney^1,3, D Harper² and C V Mandry²

¹ Louisiana State University Emergency Medicine Residency Program, Baton Rouge, LA, USA
² Earl K Long Medical Center, Baton Rouge, LA, USA
³ Baton Rouge General Medical Center, Baton Rouge, LA, USA

Correspondence to:
Correspondence to:
Professor S Kunen
LSU Emergency Medicine Residency Program, Earl K Long Medical Center, 5825 Airline Hwy, Baton Rouge, LA 70806, USA; profsk{at}hotmail.com

Background: Few emergency department (ED) studies have examined how psychiatric comorbidity relates to hospitalisation decisions.

Methods: We assessed the relationship of psychiatric comorbidity to hospitalisation decisions among ED patients in the 2004 National Hospital Ambulatory Medical Care Survey.

Results: Patients with psychiatric comorbidity were five times more likely to be hospitalised than patients with a single psychiatric diagnosis. The most frequent psychiatric comorbidities involved substance use disorders (SUDs).

Conclusions: Psychiatric disorders are underdiagnosed among ED patients. We believe that this underdiagnosis may be partly responsible for the high hospitalisation rates of ED patients with SUDs

Abbreviations: ED, emergency department; NHAMCS, National Hospital Ambulatory Medical Care Survey; SUD, substance use disorder

Keywords: psychiatry; comorbidity; emergency department

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