Psychiatric emergencies are acute mental health disturbances that require immediate intervention. However, the emergency department is increasingly being utilised for nonurgent mental health problems, thereby compromising the quality of care available for patients with urgent problems. This study assessed the level and correlates of urgency of mental health problems among patients presenting to an emergency department in Nigeria. The Crisis Triage Rating Scale, Clinical Global Impression Scale and a supplementary questionnaire were administered to 700 attendees at the emergency department of the Federal Neuro-Psychiatric Hospital Yaba, Lagos. Only 29.1% of the presentations constituted an “emergency” 10.9% were “urgent,” while 60% were “nonurgent.” The most common reason for nonurgent presentations was the need for medication refill. On regression analysis, level of urgency of presentations was independently associated with employment status, need for medication refill, substance abuse, suicidality, routine clinic attendance, and use of physical restraint before presentation. The majority of visits to the emergency department are for apparently “nonurgent problems.” However in a resource-poor setting, the emergency department may be the only safety net for the attendees. Our findings point to a need for education of service users and policy shifts in mental health care financing and organisation.

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OBJECTIVE To assess the effect of a supportive educational intervention on the psychological wellbeing of mothers whose babies were admitted to Neonatal Care Unit (NCU) in Nigeria. METHODS Controlled trial involving 41 mothers whose babies were consecutively admitted into two NCUs (21 in the intervention group and 19 controls). The intervention group received two group-based sessions which included psychological coping strategies, and familiarity with NCU environment, equipment, personnel and procedures. The control group received usual care. Outcome measures were depressive symptoms (Edinburg Postnatal Depression Scale—EPDS), stress-related to NCU (Parental Stressor Scale: Neonatal Intensive Care Unit—PSS: NICU) and post-traumatic symptoms (Impact Event Scale-Revised—IES-R). RESULTS Difference-in-Differences (DiD) analysis showed a difference of −4.70 in PSS: NICU score in favour of the intervention group which was statistically significant [F(3, 75) = 9.47, p < 0.0001, R2 = 0.28]. The differences in EPDS (0.91) and IES-R (2.55) were not statistically significant [F(3, 75) = 10.10, p = 0.74] and [F(3, 75) = 10.13, p = 0.73], respectively. All the mothers in the treatment group expressed satisfaction with the intervention. CONCLUSION This brief group-based supportive educational intervention for mothers with babies in NCU was feasible, acceptable and helpful in reducing stress related to NCU. Larger controlled trials are recommended to establish the generalizability of these findings in this region. LAY SUMMARY Babies born too early and or with complications require admission to special hospital called Neonatal Care Unit (NCU) to help them to survive. However, parents whose babies are admitted to NCU can find the experience frightening. We examined how to reduce the fear and stress mothers in Nigeria experience when their babies are admitted to NCU. We had two groups of mothers. The first group made up of 21 mothers was taught how to cope with the stress of having a baby in NCU. They were also shown how the various equipment in the NCU work, what the staff in NCU do and what types of things need to be done to help their babies. The second group of 19 mothers received usual care but did not have the extra teaching the first group received. After 2 weeks, we checked the level of depression and stress the mothers in both groups had compared with the level before the first group received the extra teaching. We found that mothers in the first group who received the extra teaching were less stressed about having their babies in the NCU compared with the mothers that did not receive the teaching.

Introduction:Suicide is a major public health problem with escalating global trends, and high rates of recidivism. Patients with suicidal behavior have frequent contacts with Emergency Departments (ED). Therefore, the ED has been recognized as a strategic site for initiating interventions targeted at engaging suicidal patients in treatment. However, there is dearth of baseline data to guide such interventions in Nigeria.Aim/Objective:This study determined the rates of treatment-engagement (compliance with follow-up appointment) among patients with suicidal behaviour after discharge from a psychiatric ED in Lagos, Nigeria.Method:The clinical database of 225 consecutive patients discharged from the ED of the Federal Neuro-Psychiatric Hospital Yaba between January and June 2012 were retrieved from the out-patient clinics/mental health service they were referred to. Data were abstracted regarding their adherence with recommended follow-up appointments over a period of six months.Results:The mean age of the service users was 35.9 ± (14.2) years and 62% were females. At one week post-discharge from the ED, 71.5% attended their appointments. By the end of the fourth week, third month and sixth month, engagement in treatment declined to 54%, 35.5% and 23% respectively.Conclusion:There is a low rate of engagement in treatment among suicidal patients in Nigeria. This finding highlights an urgent need to develop local ED-based interventions targeted at engaging suicidal patients in treatment, with the view of reducing the risk of recidivism.