Characteristics of Psychiatric Patients Referred by Police to an Emergency Department

Keum, Heeyeon; Park, Jangho; Kweon, Kukju; Ahn, Jong Joon

doi:10.4306/jknpa.2019.58.3.230

Cited by 1 publication

(2 citation statements)

References 23 publications

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“…A psychiatric emergency is defined by the American Psychiatric Association as “a situation in which immediate intervention is required because there is a risk of harming oneself or others as an acute disorder in thinking, behavior, mood, and social relationships.” 13 In these psychiatric emergency patients, ED LOS was found to increase even when restraints were applied, or sedatives were used 14 and when the police did not visit together. 15…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…13 In these psychiatric emergency patients, ED LOS was found to increase even when restraints were applied, or sedatives were used 14 and when the police did not visit together. 15 In Korea, before the COVID-19 pandemic in March 2020, emergency hospitalization of psychiatric emergency patients was possible at national psychiatric and public general hospitals. However, as these national and public hospitals have been changed to hospitals dedicated to treating COVID-19 confirmed patients, the number of medical institutions that can be hospitalized for psychiatric emergency patients who are not confirmed to have COVID-19 and who are highly likely to harm themselves or others has decreased, 16 and it is presumed that ED LOS increased because of this.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Factors Affecting the Length of Stay in the Emergency Department in Psychiatric Emergency Patients in the COVID-19 Pandemic Context

Lee

Jang

Kim

et al. 2023

INQUIRY

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To reduce overcrowding in emergency departments (ED), which is a serious international problem, it is important to reduce the length of ED stay (ED LOS) of emergency patients. In particular, due to the COVID 19 pandemic, psychiatric emergency patients spent much longer in ED. This study was conducted to identify the characteristics of psychiatric emergency patients who visited the ED during the COVID-19 pandemic and to identify factors affecting ED LOS. This retrospective study was conducted on adult patients aged 19 years or older who visited a psychiatric emergency center operated by an ED from 1 May 2020 to 31 April 2021 because of the COVID-19 pandemic. In this study, the average ED LOS of psychiatric emergency patients was 7.8 h. Factors affecting ED LOS for over 12 h were isolation (OR = 2.39, CI = 1.409-4.052), unaccompanied police officers (OR = 2.106, CI = 1.338-3.316), night-time visits (OR = 2.127, CI = 1.357-3.332), use of sedatives (OR = 1.671, CI = 1.030-2.713), and restraints (OR = 1.968, CI = 1.172-4.895). The ED LOS of psychiatric emergency patients is longer than that of general emergency patients, and a long ED LOS causes ED overcrowding. To reduce the ED LOS of psychiatric emergency patients, they must be accompanied by a police officer when visiting the ED, and the treatment process should be reorganized so that a psychiatrist can promptly intervene. Furthermore, it is necessary to reorganize the isolation guidelines and admission criteria for mental emergency patients.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%