PT  - JOURNAL ARTICLE
AU  - S Kunen
AU  - C Prejean
AU  - B Gladney
AU  - D Harper
AU  - C V Mandry
TI  - Disposition of emergency department patients with psychiatric comorbidity: results from the 2004 National Hospital Ambulatory Medical Care Survey
AID  - 10.1136/emj.2005.027367
DP  - 2006 Apr 01
TA  - Emergency Medicine Journal
PG  - 274--275
VI  - 23
IP  - 4
4099  - http://emj.bmj.com/content/23/4/274.short
4100  - http://emj.bmj.com/content/23/4/274.full
SO  - Emerg Med J2006 Apr 01; 23
AB  - 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