Background: The psychiatric emergency service (PES) is a major hub in the mental health care delivery system. The aim of this study was to more precisely define what psychiatrists consider to be a psychiatric emergency and to examine the underlying basis of this assessment.

Introduction:Studies of aggressive behaviors in a nonforensic mental health setting have focused primarily on the inpatient ward and, on event prediction, using behavior-based clinical rating scales. Few studies have specifically targeted aggressive behaviors in the psychiatric emergency service or determined whether assessing the demographic and clinical characteristics of such patients might prove useful for their more rapid identification.Methods:We used a prospectively acquired database of over 20,900 visits to four services in the province of Quebec, Canada, over a two-year period from September 2002 onwards. A maximum of 72 variables could be acquired per visit. Visits with aggression (any verbally or physically intimidating behavior), both present and past, were tagged. Binary logistic regressions and cross-tabulations were used to determine whether the profile of a variable differed in visits with aggression from those without aggression.Results:About 7% of visits were marked by current aggression (verbal 49%, physical 12%, verbal and physical 39%). Including visits with a “past only” history of aggression increased this number to 20%. Variables associated with aggression were gender (male), marital status (single/separated), education (high school or less), employment (none), judicial history (any type), substance abuse (prior or active), medication compliance (poor), type of arrival to psychiatric emergency services (involuntary, police, judiciary, landlord), reason for referral (behavioral dyscontrol), diagnosis (less frequent in anxiety disorders), and outcome (more frequently placed under observation or admitted).Conclusion:Our results suggest that many state-independent variables are associated with aggressive behaviors in the psychiatric emergency service. Although their sum may not add up to a specific patient profile, they can nevertheless be useful in service planning, being easily integrated alongside state-dependent rating scales in a triage and/or observation instrument for daily use in the psychiatric emergency service.

In order to examine the role of life events in the clinical presentation of borderline personality disorder, the Life Experience Survey was given to three groups of subjects; one consisting of patients suffering from borderline personality disorder and two consisting of control subjects for the purpose of comparison. The results showed that patients suffering from borderline personality disorder did not experience a greater number of life events, but those life events that they did report were related to their psychopathology, which were, in turn, associated with the break-ups of important relationships or with effects of impulsive actions.

BackgroundThe impact of an aging population on the psychiatric emergency service (PES) has not been fully ascertained. Cognitive dysfunctions aside, many DSM-IV disorders may have a lower prevalence in the elderly, who appear to be underrepresented in the PES. We therefore attempted to more precisely assess their patterns of PES use and their clinical and demographic characteristics.MethodsClose to 30,000 visits to a general hospital PES (Montreal, Quebec, Canada) were acquired between 1990 and 2004 and pooled with over 17,000 visits acquired using the same methodology at three other services in Quebec between 2002 and 2004.ResultsThe median age of PES patients increased over time. However, the proportion of yearly visits attributable to the elderly (compared to those under 65) showed no consistent increase during the observation period. The pattern of return visits (two to three, four to ten, eleven or more) did not differ from that of patients under 65, although the latter made a greater number of total return visits per patient. The elderly were more often women (62%), widowed (28%), came to the PES accompanied (42%) and reported « illness » as an important stressor (29%). About 39% were referred for depression or anxiety. They were less violent (10%) upon their arrival. Affective disorders predominated in the diagnostic profile, they were less co-morbid and more likely admitted than patients under 65.ConclusionAlthough no proportional increase in PES use over time was found the elderly do possess distinct characteristics potentially useful in PES resource planning so as to better serve this increasingly important segment of the general population.

Substance misuse is frequently encountered in the psychiatric emergency service (PES) and may take many forms, ranging from formal DSM-IV diagnoses to less obvious entities such as hazardous consumption. Detecting such patients using traditional screening instruments has proved problematic. We therefore undertook this study to more fully characterize substance misuse in the PES and to determine whether certain variables might help better screen these patients. We used a prospectively acquired database of over 18,000 visits made to four PESs during a 2-year period in the province of Quebec, Canada. One of the variables acquired was a subjective rating by the nursing staff as to whether substance misuse was a contributing factor to the visit (graded as direct, indirect, or not at all). Substance misuse accounted for 21% of all diagnoses and alcohol was the most frequent substance used. Patients were divided into those with primary (PSM), comorbid (CSM) or no substance misuse (NSM). Depressive disorders were the most frequent primary diagnoses in CSM, whereas personality and substance misuse disorders were frequent secondary diagnoses in PSM. Although many variables significantly differentiated the three groups, few were sufficiently detailed to be used as potential screening tools. Those situations that did have sufficient details included those with a previous history of substance misuse, substance misuse within 48 hours of the visit, and visits graded by the nursing staff as being directly and/or indirectly related to substance misuse. Variables related to substance misuse itself were the primary predictors of PSM and, less significantly, CSM. The nursing staff rating, although promising, was obtained in less than 30% of all visits, rendering its practical use difficult to assess.